Ten More Years in Afghanistan?

from Der Spiegel

Social Democratic Floor Leader Peter Struck says that despite growing international exhaustion with the engagement, NATO might have to remain in Afghanistan for another decade. Otherwise, things could go badly wrong.

It's no secret that Germans are tired of their country's involvement in Afghanistan. A poll at the beginning of August showed that fully two-thirds of them would like to see an immediate pullout of the more than 3,000 German soldiers currently stationed in northern Afghanistan.

But according to former Defense Minister and current Social Democratic Floor Leader Peter Struck, that may not be possible. Indeed, Struck thinks that the international community might have to remain in Afghanistan for another decade.

"A majority (of Germans) would like to see all the soldiers come home. I am strictly opposed to such a move because it would mean a major defeat for human rights and for the international community," Struck told SPIEGEL in an interview published on Sunday. "I think the international community will have to remain there for at least another 10 years."

Otherwise, Struck says, the radicals with the Taliban and al-Qaida might regain the upper hand. The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan aimed at rooting out the Taliban and al-Qaida immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Struck, though, would like to see talks started with "moderate Taliban." "One has to work together with the governors and with the so-called warlords," he said.

He would also prefer to see German troops in Afghanistan focus more on military training and on reconstruction. Training police is another priority, he says, but not enough German police are volunteering for duty in Afghanistan.

(Continued here.)