Analysis: Nine years on, the Taliban have a message for West
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL | Sat Nov 13, 2010 1:44am EST
KABUL (Reuters) – When NATO leaders gather for a summit in Lisbon next week, where Afghanistan will top the agenda, they can expect a message waiting for them from the Taliban.
That message may well be a violent demonstration of their staying power, even though Washington and U.S. and NATO commanders have been talking up recent successes in Afghanistan before the summit and a strategy review by President Barack Obama next month.
This comes as many European NATO members begin to look at how long they can keep justifying their commitments to an increasingly unpopular war, and as Obama remains committed to beginning a gradual drawdown of U.S. troops from July 2011 before the 2014 goal set by Kabul to take total security responsibility.
Phi Beta Iota: Morality is a strategic force and generally favors the indigenous fighting on their own land for their own values. It is costing us $50 million per Taliban body to fight the Taliban on their own ground. Obama needs advisors who have integrity, intelligence, and an instinct for the future.