Pakistan Havens, Taliban Resilience Thwart U.S. in Afghan War

[sonicboom]

Pakistan Havens, Taliban Resilience Thwart U.S. in Afghan War

By Viola Gienger - Nov 23, 2010

Pakistan’s failure to shut down havens for militants and the Taliban’s ability to adapt are undermining the mission of 30,000 American troops to reverse the momentum in the Afghan war, the Pentagon said.

“Efforts to reduce insurgent capacity, such as safe havens and logistic support originating in Pakistan and Iran, have not produced measurable results,” the Pentagon said in a report released today on the war effort covering the six months ending Sept. 30. “Pakistan’s domestic extremist threat and the 2010 floods reduce the potential for a more aggressive or effective Pakistani effort in the near term.”

While Iranian support of the Afghan insurgency hasn’t increased significantly in the past year, militant groups with safe havens in Pakistan’s ungoverned northwest territories are using the porous border to conduct cross-border attacks, and are winning converts in their own country by providing relief in wide areas affected by floods earlier this year, according to the report.

In Afghanistan, Taliban forces were able to regroup and adapt their techniques even as the U.S. pumped in 30,000 more troops authorized in December 2009 by President Barack Obama. Most of the added troops were in place by October, increasing the U.S. force to about 95,000, supplemented by 48,000 from 47 other nations in the coalition.

The coalition and Afghan forces “gradually are pushing insurgents to the edges of secured population areas in a number of important locations,” the Pentagon reported. Still, the Afghan government and the coalition “continue to face a resilient enemy that exploits governance gaps and continues to fight to retain long-standing sanctuaries.”

Troop Timetable

Army General David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, seeks to show progress in turning back the Taliban so he can begin to hand over some territory to Afghan control next year. Obama’s authorization of 30,000 additional troops came with a timetable to begin a drawdown by July 2011.

“The Taliban’s strength lies in the Afghan population’s perception that coalition forces will soon leave, giving credence to the belief that a Taliban victory is inevitable,” according to the report, which is based in part on public opinion polling in Afghanistan.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its partners in the fight sought to dispel such fears while still laying out a timeline to end their involvement in the war. Heads of state who met in Lisbon last weekend agreed to aim for complete Afghan control by 2014.

The Pentagon report, compiled with State Department and foreign-aid officials overseeing infrastructure and political rebuilding projects in Afghanistan, cited “uneven” progress across the country, with “modest gains in security, governance and development” in the high-priority areas.

“Overall governance and development progress continues to lag security gains,” according to the report. “The Taliban is not a popular movement, but it exploits a population frustrated by weak governance.”

Pakistan Havens, Taliban Resilience Thwart U.S. in Afghan War - Bloomberg