Hard Slog = Afghanistan

BBC News: Reports that the new US Commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus has stated that the War in Afghanistan will get tougher and harder before we see some light. The question that has to be asked can General Petraeus really turn the War around, he turned around Iraq but he didn’t have the Iraqi Government attempting to do deal with Taliban / Al Qaeda, yes in Iraq the native Iraqi insurgents turned against Al Qaeda due to their methods but the Taliban and Al Qaeda are much more interwoven, it is always a mistake to assume that tactics that won one war will win a similar war. The insurgents in Afghanistan have the safe heavens of the badlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the CIA drone attacks has been very effective but only up to a point, the Taliban / Al Qaeda have not been defeated thus far, they have been pushed further in to caves. Thus what is the answer for Afghanistan, 1) Get a pro Western strong man to take over, 2) Allow him to use his own methods to keep control, the ACLU to be kept out of Afghanistan, 3) Open a massive Special Forces base in Pakistan, have them take out the Taliban / Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, allow Afghanistan to become a free fire zone, in other words if it moves shoot it, tough but hard folks. Also an Old Imperial policy. The present strategy is not working in Afghanistan, one can postulate that by the end the UK could have lost more of its Armed Forces in Afghanistan than in the Korean War.