The sharpest expression of the demoralisation in Washington and European capitals was the assessment made last month by the British ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, to the French deputy ambassador, Francois Fitou. A memorandum by Fitou, relating a discussion he held with Cowper-Coles on September 2, was leaked in full to the French publication Le Canard enchaîné.

Cowper Coles, according to Fitous memo, did not mince words about the position that confronts the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Their very presence, he reportedly said, is part of the problem, not the solution. As the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of the country approaches, the British ambassador commented: The security situation is getting worse. So is corruption and the [Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai] has lost all trust... The foreign forces are ensuring the survival of a regime that would collapse without them. In doing so, they are slowing down and complicating an eventual exit from the crisis.

All that could be hoped for, Cowper-Coles allegedly advised, was that the replacement of Karzais regime with an acceptable dictator would allow NATO forceswhich currently include some 8,000 British and close to 3,000 French troopsto withdraw in five to 10 years. This, the diplomat was cited as saying, is the only realistic outlook... and we must prepare public opinion [in the US and Europe] to accept it.

Read More