Kabul, September 18: A top British commander hints that the NATO defeat against Taliban militants in Afghanistan would have a devastating impact on the US and its western allies’ global reputation.
Speaking at London’s Chatham House, the new head of the British Army Gen Sir David Richards warned that the failure of a coalition of such powerful western nations would show terrorists that “anything might be possible”.
“Add to that the hugely intoxicating impact on extremists world-wide of the perceived defeat of the USA and NATO – the most powerful alliance in the history of the world – and the debilitating impact on these countries,” the BBC quoted Richards as saying.
The British chief of the general staff noted that failure would have an “enduring grand strategic impact” on Britain’s global image as well.
Moreover, in a near simultaneous speech a top US commander, General David Petraeus said the violent unrest in Afghanistan has risen by 60 percent compared with last year and Taliban insurgents have “expanded their strength and influence.”
The warnings come after a London-based policy research group said this week that the Taliban had a significant presence in almost every corner of Afghanistan, eight years after their overthrow by US-led forces.
A security map by the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the war-ravaged country.
The US Defense Department confirmed on Wednesday that at least 757 members of the US army had been killed and hundreds more injured in Afghanistan as a result of its invasion of the country eight years ago.
At least 216 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.
The occupation forces have recently suffered important losses in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban have stepped up their attacks against coalition troops through roadside bombs and ambushes.
US-led forces in Afghanistan lost 77 troops in August, setting a new monthly record. At least 334 foreign troops have been killed in the country in 2009, according to the icasualties.org website that tracks coalition deaths in the conflict.
The insurgency has intensified in the eastern and southern provinces, as pressure is mounting on the US and its western allies to pull troops out of the country amid continuing troop causalities.
Hundreds of western soldiers died in support of the ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’. The US-led forces launched the operation in 2001 in a bid to oust Taliban-led regime following the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.
The UN has noted that the number of civilians killed in the conflict in Afghanistan this year has jumped 24 percent compared with 2008. Thousands of civilians have died either in US-led airstrikes or in Taliban led insurgency across the conflict torn country, according to a UN report.
President Hamid Karzai has frequently showed anger over the US-led forces’ performance in Afghanistan, saying they had brought more misery to the Afghan people.
Kabul and Washington have also been at loggerheads over the increasing number of civilian casualties in coalition forces’ attacks and particularly air raids against insurgents.
Press TV correspondent said in a report that people in Kabul and across other major towns were increasingly becoming frustrated of violence.
Richards also said failure could increase a resurgence of al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism and the spread of instability to the neighboring Pakistan.
Senior civilians and military officials in Islamabad say that NATO’s wrong policies in Afghanistan were to be blamed for militancy in the nuclear-armed country.
Political uncertainty and civilian causalities have increased pressure on the US and its western allies to pull out troops from Afghanistan.
—–Agencies