Afstan pressures

It's clear that everyone thinks "something must be done":

1) No light at end of Afghan tunnel:PM may have to put vow to end mission in 2011 on hold until new U.S. policy becomes clear

AP FILE PHOTO

Barack Obama greets troops in Kuwait on his way to Afghanistan in July.

OTTAWA–Canada could be in for a longer stay in Afghanistan as Barack Obama seeks to transform George W. Bush's forgotten war into his top foreign policy priority, say military, political and diplomatic experts...

2) Afghanistan: We Can Do Better

...an honest assessment of Afghanistan must conclude that we are not where we might have hoped to be by now. While the country's north and west are largely at peace and improving, the south and east are riven by insurgency, drugs and ineffective government. Afghans are increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress in building up their country. And the populations in countries that have contributed troops to the NATO-led mission are wondering how long this operation must last -- and how many young men and women we will lose carrying it out.

In April, to mark the 60th anniversary of NATO's founding, the member nations' heads of state and government will meet in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl, Germany. This meeting is to be part of Barack Obama's first visit to Europe as president, and it will present an opportunity for alliance leaders to discuss the way forward. Five key lessons from recent years should help shape the path of this mission:

· Afghan leadership is not some distant aspiration -- it's something that we need as soon as possible and on which we must insist. The basic problem in Afghanistan is not too much Taliban; it's too little good governance [emphasis added]. Afghans need a government that deserves their loyalty and trust; when they have it, the oxygen will be sucked away from the insurgency. The international community must step up its support of the elected government, and, through it, the Afghan people. But we have paid enough, in blood and treasure, to demand that the Afghan government take more concrete and vigorous action to root out corruption and increase efficiency, even where that means difficult political choices.

· NATO, too, needs a more cohesive approach. Our operations are still too much of a patchwork, with individual countries assigned to specific geographic areas. The advantage of this approach is that specific countries get experience with the terrain and the locals and are able to link development and military operations. The drawback: Multiple approaches to military operations and development assistance within one mission reduce effectiveness and can strain solidarity. We should have more common approaches to our efforts, including fewer geographic restrictions on where forces can go in support of each other...

The writer [Jaap de Hoop Scheffer] is secretary general of NATO.

3) Afghan official bristles after Hillary Clinton refers to Afghanistan as a 'narco state'