AKHTAR, a well-to-do cloth merchant in his 50s, recalls the optimism Afghans in his province of Helmand felt when the Taliban were defeated in 2001. It is exhausted. “Now we just say everyone should leave us alone.” And that includes British NATO forces. Mr Akhtar speaks for many. In ten days in Helmand this correspondent found no one who would say that British forces had improved things.
As NATO held a summit in Bucharest this week, Mr Akhtar's anger was a salutary reminder of how much it has to do to salvage a respectable outcome from the war. He is just the sort of Afghan who should welcome NATO's efforts to eliminate the Taliban. Yet, like everyone else, he blames the insecurity in Helmand for making life a misery, and his wealth futile.
NATO wants to demonstrate first of all that no ally is withdrawing; on the contrary, France has confirmed it will send another battalion (at least 800 troops). Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, says the mission is succeeding, and urges patience. NATO also stresses a “comprehensive approach”, in which military action is backed up by political and economic progress, eventually allowing Afghan forces to be at the forefront of the fight. |