MPs critical of Britain's policy in Afghanistan | Politics

• Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
• The Guardian

  Wednesday 2 March 2011

• Article history

 

David Cameron greets the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, outside Downing Street. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Counter-insurgency measures in Afghanistan are not working and could be counter-productive unless the US and its allies start peace talks with the Taliban, a parliamentary committee report will say today.

The cross-party report, by the Tory-led foreign affairs committee, follows a seven-month enquiry and argues that Britain's policy in Afghanistan is flawed.

It suggests that the justification for fighting the war – to eliminate Afghanistan as a base for al-Qaida – "may have been achieved some time ago" and it questions whether the sacrifices of the armed services in Afghanistan "have a direct connection to the UK's core objective".

The committee also queries whether the "ambitious aim" to defeat the Taliban and build a functioning, stable, Afghan government, is achievable.

"The evidence presented to the committee has suggested that the current full-scale and highly intensive counter-insurgency campaign is not succeeding," the report says.

 

The Tory MP Richard Ottaway, chair of the committee, suggested the focus on the fight against the Taliban and tendency to lump the group with al-Qaida as a common enemy, could alienate the population.

"There is a danger that without appropriate political leadership, the current military campaign is in danger of inadvertently de-railing efforts to secure a political solution to what is essentially a political problem," Ottaway said in a statement issued alongside the report.

The committee's main recommendation is for the UK to encourage the US to be involved in the search for a political solution, including direct contact with the Taliban.

A US report last month said secret, exploratory, negotiations had begun but it remains unclear how interested the Taliban leaders are in peace talks.

Some commanders of the insurgency are said to be weary of the conflict, but European officials warn that others believe they are winning and only have to wait for Nato's eventual departure.

The foreign secretary, William Hague, said the report may already be out of date. "The situation in Afghanistan is constantly changing and in some cases has moved on from the evidence given to the [committee]."