How would additional troops, given the nature of insurgency help in winning the war?
There are some new positive elements in the strategy and I believe that a surge in troops will help. The Afghan National Army and police are as yet not at par to defending the country, thus requiring outside forces to fight the insurgency. I feel that people do not understand that during Soviet occupation there was total national resistance, where the entire nation was fighting the Soviets. Now things are different, at least 60 per cent of country is relatively safe with the insurgency only in 40 per cent of the country, mostly concentrated in the southern and eastern parts. The Taleban as a group consists of two parts, the core group that number about 1,000-2,000, the remaining are fighters that have joined the Taleban mainly out of economic necessity. Efforts should be made to separate the outer group from the core group. Also, military force is not the only solution; we require economic development on both sides of the border. In addition education is a key sector that must be devel
