Afghanistan descending into chaos?

[techweenie]

Many of us thought it would be best to 'finish up' in Afghanistan before stealing away troops and support to depose Saddam.

It may be necessary to go back in, in force, and stay for a while. At least in Afghanistan, we were able to build a real coalition and there's hope of help in re-stabilizing the country.

Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general

· Nato commander's view in stark contrast to ministers'
· Forces short of equipment and 'running out of time'

Richard Norton-Taylor
Saturday July 22, 2006
The Guardian

The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption.

The stark warning came from Lieutenant General David Richards, head of Nato's international security force in Afghanistan, who warned that western forces there were short of equipment and were "running out of time" if they were going to meet the expectations of the Afghan people.

The assumption within Nato countries had been that the environment in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban in 2002 would be benign, Gen Richards said. "That is clearly not the case," he said yesterday. He referred to disputes between tribes crossing the border with Pakistan, and divisions between religious and secular factions cynically manipulated by "anarcho-warlords".

---------full story--------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1826479,00.html