The Challenge Ahead

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Afghanistan less secure, says spy chief
Declan WalshMarch 1, 2008

AFTER six years of US-led military support and billions of dollars in aid, security in Afghanistan is "deteriorating" and President Hamid Karzai's Government controls less than a third of the country, America's top intelligence official has admitted.

Mike McConnell testified in Washington that Mr Karzai controls about 30% of Afghanistan and the Taliban 10%, and the remainder is under tribal control.

The Afghan Government angrily denied the US Director of National Intelligence's assessment yesterday, insisting it controlled "over 360" of the country's 365 districts. "This is far from the facts," said the defence ministry.

But the gloomy comments echoed even more strongly worded recent reports by think tanks, including one headed by the former NATO commander General James Jones, that concluded "urgent changes" were required to "prevent Afghanistan becoming a failed state".

Although NATO forces have killed thousands of insurgents, including several commanders, unrelenting violence has eroded Mr Karzai's grip in the provinces, fuelling critics who deride him as "the mayor of Kabul".

A suicide bomb at a dog fight near Kandahar last week killed more than 80 people. On Thursday, fighting erupted in neighbouring Helmand when the Taliban ambushed a police patrol. The interior ministry said 25 militants were killed; a Taliban spokesman said they lost one.

A day earlier, the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation aid agency said it feared that Cyd Mizell, an American employee kidnapped in Kandahar last month, had been killed in captivity.

A big injection of foreign troops has failed to bring stability. The US has nearly 50,000 soldiers in Afghanistan — twice as many as in 2004 — while the UK has 7700, mostly in Helmand. Another 2200 US marines are due to arrive next month to combat an expected Taliban surge.

Read the rest here: http://www.theage.com.au