Report: UK officer says Afghan victory impossible

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Decisive military victory in Afghanistan is impossible and the Taliban may well be part of a long-term solution for the country, the senior British commander in Afghanistan was quoted as saying Sunday. The Sunday Times newspaper quoted Brig. Mark Carleton-Smith as saying that "we're not going to win this war." "It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army," he was quoted as saying. "We may well leave with there still being a low but steady ebb of rural insurgency." He also reportedly said a deal with the Taliban might be on the table. "If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this," Carleton-Smith was quoted as saying.