Salahadin
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Peace will only come to Afghanistan if Pakistan can sort out the militants on its side, where US strikes are not helping, the head of Britain`s armed forces told a British newspaper.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said only politics, long term could bring peace on both sides of the frontier. The chief of the defence staff said that weaknesses in Afghan President Hamid Karzai`s government were causing difficulties for the 8,300 British troops battling Taliban insurgents in the troubled south of the country. "The weakness of governance in Afghanistan worries me considerably," Stirrup told.
"But governance is not just about what goes on in Kabul. We have to look at the wider picture. "The Taliban movement -- and Taliban is now a catch-all phrase for ideologues, criminals, people with tribal grudges, people who are quite simply guns for hire to keep bread on the table -- is on both sides of the border. Some people move across. Some are based almost exclusively in Pakistan. Some are based exclusively in Afghanistan. "It`s impossible to distinguish between those two and actually, in my view, not necessary. The border is not relevant."
Stirrup sympathised with the difficulties faced by the Pakistani military, admitting that its success so far had been "limited". "The Pakistan army has a series of very considerable problems," he said, adding it had realised that "the growing insurgency within its own borders is an existential problem for Pakistan." General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan`s army, "is absolutely clear on the size of the challenge that he faces.
End.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup said only politics, long term could bring peace on both sides of the frontier. The chief of the defence staff said that weaknesses in Afghan President Hamid Karzai`s government were causing difficulties for the 8,300 British troops battling Taliban insurgents in the troubled south of the country. "The weakness of governance in Afghanistan worries me considerably," Stirrup told.
"But governance is not just about what goes on in Kabul. We have to look at the wider picture. "The Taliban movement -- and Taliban is now a catch-all phrase for ideologues, criminals, people with tribal grudges, people who are quite simply guns for hire to keep bread on the table -- is on both sides of the border. Some people move across. Some are based almost exclusively in Pakistan. Some are based exclusively in Afghanistan. "It`s impossible to distinguish between those two and actually, in my view, not necessary. The border is not relevant."
Stirrup sympathised with the difficulties faced by the Pakistani military, admitting that its success so far had been "limited". "The Pakistan army has a series of very considerable problems," he said, adding it had realised that "the growing insurgency within its own borders is an existential problem for Pakistan." General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan`s army, "is absolutely clear on the size of the challenge that he faces.
End.
