Nato Commander Warns of Lack of Progress in Afghanistan

A top Nato commander today upbraided alliance members for showing a lack of political will in Afghanistan and warned that a lack of progress would undermine Nato's relevance.

General John Craddock, a US general and Nato's supreme allied commander in Europe, described the seven-year campaign against an increasingly ruthless Taliban as disjointed.

Complaining that Nato is being hamstrung by national considerations, Craddock pointed to more than 70 "caveats" that give individual countries a veto over certain operations and the reluctance of countries to meet troop commitments.

"We are demonstrating a political will that is, in my judgment, sometimes wavering," Craddock said in a speech to policymakers and defence analysts in London. "It's this wavering political will that impedes operational progress and brings into question the relevance of the alliance here in the 21st century."

Afghanistan is Nato's first operation outside Europe, but what started as a mission brimming with confidence is looking increasingly fraught. The 26-member Nato alliance has about 50,000 troops in Afghanistan but commanders say they need at least 12,000 more. Most Nato countries are reluctant to send more troops.

Afghanistan is now widely seen as more precarious than Iraq, with the Taliban becoming more sophisticated in its ability to carry out ambushes and bombings. Militants have expanded their traditional bases in the country's south and east - along the border with Pakistan - and have gained territory in the provinces surrounding Kabul, in a worrying development for Nato and Afghan troops.

Taliban gains have added urgency to US warnings that the international mission to defeat the Taliban is in peril, and to calls from Nato commanders for a sharp increase in troop numbers.

In the latest attack, a suicide bomber in northern Afghanistan killed two German soldiers and five children in Kunduz province, according to Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor.

The Taliban have been stepping up attacks in the capital, Kabul, where gunmen this morning killed a British aid worker. The group said that she had been targeted because she was spreading Christianity.

Craddock defended the view expressed by Britain's outgoing commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, that the Taliban could not be defeated militarily and that at some level insurgents needed to be drawn into a dialog.

"His comments are generally in line with what our military and political leaders have been saying all along... The conflict in Afghanistan cannot be won by military means alone," Craddock, who serves as Nato's operational commander, said.

"We in the international community must come together as part of a truly comprehensive approach (in Afghanistan). The current effort remains disjointed in time and space."

Craddock was critical of the lack of coordination in aid efforts, whether with non-government or government-backed groups, saying the overall military strategy of "clear, hold and build" was often lacking the third component.

"We clear and hold and then we turn around and say 'come on', but the build is inconsistent," he said. "We can't win it, we can only create conditions."

On Pakistan, Craddock emphasized the need for close cooperation with its security forces and appeared to defend the US policy of pursuing militants across the border into Pakistan, saying self-defence was paramount.