NATO general warns Afghan war effort is wavering

US Army General John Craddock, supreme allied commander in Europe, warned that NATO’s operations in Afghanistan are affected by a shortfall of troops and more than 70 caveats on soldiers’ deployment. In a speech in London, Monday, Oct. 20, Craddock said: “The conflict in Afghanistan cannot be won by military means alone.” Good governance, reconstruction and development are essential. For now, NATO members are “wavering” in their political commitment to defeat the Taliban, he said.
debkafile adds: This confirms former statements by British and French commanders that the 8-year Afghan war is unwinnable under present circumstances and Taliban is gaining ground all the time. More and more tribal leaders in the Kabul region are bidding for Taliban protection for lack of government funding, stability and law and order – even against marauding robbers.
Monday, two German soldiers and five Afghan children were killed in a suicide attack in northern Kunduz province. In Kabul, two men on a motorbike shot Gayle Williams, a British-South African national working with the disabled for a Christian organization SERVE Afghanistan. The organization rejected the Taliban claim that she had been preaching.
Around the capital, 60km to the west, NATO troops were dropped by helicopter on Wardak, killing at least 20 insurgents. Wardak is one of the newly captured insurgent bases in territory surrounding Kabul. In the south, the Helmand governor reported 34 Taliban fighters killed in the ongoing offensive to defend the provincial capital Lashkar Gah from repeated Taliban battering.