Afghanistan despatch: 'If Nato pulls out too early there will be civil war again'

U.S. Marines and British soldiers on patrol in Musa Qala


Afghanistan despatch: 'If Nato pulls out too early there will be civil war again'
By Nick Meo in Musa Qala, Helmand
Published: 7:00AM BST 08 Aug 2010

Watched by a bodyguard with steely eyes and a Makarov pistol under his waistcoat, the Afghan police commander was grimly candid.

"If Nato pulls out too early there will be civil war again," he said quietly, sitting on a sofa in his office behind blast barriers and razor wire. "And this time there will be so much blood you will smell it from as far away as London."

His fear is a pervasive one as Afghans prepare for Nato's withdrawal, which begins next year, and as the perception grows that Western forces are slowly losing their war against the Taliban – a prospect raised bluntly by Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari last week as he responded to David Cameron's claim that Pakistan was exporting terrorism to Afghanistan.

Mr Zardari singled out the failure to secure hearts and minds as the most important reason, although many Afghans would blame Mr Zardari's government for supporting the Taliban.

I first arrived in Musa Qala with British troops in December 2007, stepping off a Chinook helicopter as Taliban rockets landed nearby. Last week I returned to find a town grateful to have been wrested from the Taliban's harsh rule, and glad about improvements, but unhappy with the slow pace of progress and deeply fearful about the future.

... = less than 100 years

I really get tired of listening to arguments my son could refute when he was 10 years old.

And I'm not sure that what you call "infighting" would register that way to them. They are tribal, not national, in their thinking.

Their methods have discouraged, dismayed, and occasionally destroyed their would-be conquerors for thousands of years. I think they know what they're doing.

This region has been at war for a couple of thousand years - with each other. GET US OUT.