madam president at first sight the council's conclusions about afghanistan appear to be a welcome contrast to the belligerent attitude of the united states and the united kingdom
when looked at more closely it is actually a mixture of naivety and complicity in their methods
the council is thoroughly naive in trying to plant the delicate flower of western democracy in the inhospitable soil of afghan tribalism
the vertical divisions in society and the domination of tribal loyalties over personal judgment would make that impossible
it wants to remove corruption but simply does not understand that the bureaucratic model of objective judgment and financial and resource decisions would not stand a chance of being respected
this is not because afghans are endemically dishonest but because afghan tribal society sees looking after one's own family and tribe as a self-evident virtue
the council would like to counter the production of opium poppies
however removing the taliban from government was not the best way of reducing that production
the taliban government reduced it by ninety but since the invasion of afghanistan afghanistan is again the world's leading opium producer
the report says insecurity in afghanistan cannot be addressed by military means alone
that can only mean that military action has a legitimate part to play
in my view it does not
we have had three failed wars against afghanistan in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries we really ought to have learnt our lesson
the taliban oppresses women has contempt for democracy and is killing british soldiers it is a thoroughly unpleasant organisation
but we could stop it from killing british and allied soldiers tomorrow by removing our troops
it is a murderous pointless war that simply cannot be won
