"Staying the Course in Afghanistan"

German newspapers make the case in a forceful and clear way, unlike our government:

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:
...
"Afghanistan cannot be allowed to become a beachhead from which militant Islamists and their terrorist spearheads can launch their harmfulness and totalitarian ideology into the world. The goal of winning over the 'hearts' of the Afghans may be pathetically exaggerated, but protecting Germany's security interests is not."

"When it comes to ramifications, whoever speaks of withdrawing from Afghanistan -- as the left does -- aligns themselves with the murderous Islamists in this power struggle ... A withdrawal today would amount to a flight from responsibility."

The leftist Die Tageszeitung writes:

"It would be disastrous if the German government allowed the Taliban to dictate its policies [emphasis added] ...

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"No one who wants to be taken seriously demands the immediate withdrawal of Germans. However, the general discussion about whether or not German troops should remain in Afghanistan is heating up, and the motto "keep going on as before" can no longer suffice. The government would prefer to extend its three current mandates: participation in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), deployment of the six aerial reconnaissance Tornado jets and support of the anti-terror Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The Greens and strong factions in the Social Democratic Party are demanding a pullout from OEF, which they equate with fighting terror with terror ... A withdrawal of Germany's small special forces contingent from OEF would be little more political posturing. But Germany's already limited influence would be further reduced."

"On the other hand, the time left before autumn to debate the fundamental strategy is far too short. For this reason, the three mandates should be extended for the time being, until a new plan can be developed with the allied forces. ... In addition, we need to get the more moderate forces in Afghanistan, which today are still supporting the Taliban, involved in the process of establishing peace."

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"The fact that the police officers had absolutely nothing to do with the military deployment didn't matter a lick to the people who planted the bomb. Nor did the fact that the kidnapped engineers -- one of whom has been killed -- came to this land to help construct a new, civil society. The Taliban's goal is simply to oust the foreigners and once again establish their own Islamic regime throughout the country."

"For this reason, it really does no good to start debating again about whether the German army should be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Getting this debate started is the terrorists' goal. But even after a retreat, there would still be German soldiers in the country working at the embassy and providing assistance and whose ideas and resources would remain an unbearable provocation to the fundamentalists."

"Germany chose to get involved with the reconstruction and modernizing of Afghanistan. Unless we want to hand the country and its population back over to the fundamentalists, withdrawal is not an option. We must prevent the country from once again serving as a haven for international terrorists. And the bitter truth is that these three policemen will probably not be the last German victims of terror in Afghanistan."

Meanwhile back home:

Stop muddling Afghan file, Ottawa is warned
Military experts say Canadians won't be won over unless government is more open, stresses progress

Update: Optimism from the Brits:

Des Browne, the defence secretary, said yesterday that British forces could be at a "turning point" in bringing stability to Afghanistan, but suggested that there would still be a substantial UK military presence in the country for many years.

And going further than other ministers have done, he said in an interview with the Guardian that he had "no doubt" that the Taliban was being supplied with weapons from Iran, via drug routes...

Mr Browne, recently returned from his fourth visit to Afghanistan since he was appointed 14 months ago, painted an optimistic picture of the effect of heavy, often ferocious, fighting between British troops and the Taliban in recent weeks [sort of like the Canadians last year].

Seven soldiers have been killed in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, in the past 10 days. Separately, a Briton working for the private security firm ArmorGroup who was shot dead in Kabul was named last night as Richard Adamson.

Mr Browne told the Guardian he was "genuinely surprised" at the progress British troops had made in promoting sustainable security against the Taliban.

Asked if the British mission in southern Afghanistan had reached a turning point, he replied: "I think the honest answer is, yes, it could be." Asked if there would still be thousands of British troops there in 10 years' time - more than 7,000 are deployed there now, a figure that will rise to 7,800 by the end of the year - he said: "I do not envisage we will be in anything like the same profile on the present scale." However, he added: "I think it's too early to put a time on that [Exactly! MC]."..