Reuters: NATO chief sees Afghan insurgency smashed by 2009

NATO chief sees Afghan insurgency smashed by 2009

By Mark John

Sat Feb 10, 1:06 PM ET

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - NATO expects to have smashed most of the Taliban insurgency
in Afghanistan within the next two years but will need to keep troops there after 2009, the
alliance's chief said on Saturday.

"In 2009, we should see Afghanistan on the road to peace with the back of the resistance
broken -- but with undoubtedly a NATO military presence on the ground," Secretary-General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in Munich.

"I hope in 2009 that we see an Afghanistan government that is better able to take the
country into its own hands, which is what we hope for," he added.

However the scale of the challenge facing the alliance was underlined as Afghan national
security adviser Zalmai Rassoul told the same meeting his country was facing a resurgent
Taliban and an influx of foreign fighters.

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