 Marshal Stirrup said insurgency in both Afghanistan and Pakistan can only be dealt with through politics. |
The head of Britain's armed forces says the US airstrikes on Pakistan-Afghanistan border cannot bring peace to the violence-ridden area.
“Insurgency (in Afghanistan and Pakistan) cannot be defeated by conventional military means. It can only be dealt with, in the long term, through politics,” Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup told The Sunday Times.
His remarks come while the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said Washington would continue drone attacks on Pakistan's tribal zones in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
Both George W. Bush and the new US President Barack Obama had made it clear that Washington "will go after al-Qaeda wherever al-Qaeda is and we will continue to pursue them."
Both George W. Bush and the new US President Barack Obama had made it clear that Washington "will go after al-Qaeda wherever al-Qaeda is and we will continue to pursue them."
Stirrup also suggested that weaknesses in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government were causing difficulties for the 8,300 British troops battling Taliban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Helmand.
"The weakness of governance in Afghanistan worries me considerably," Stirrup said. "But governance is not just about what goes on in Kabul. We have to look at the wider picture."
"The Taliban movement … is on both sides of the border. It makes no distinction between one side or the other," he added.
Stirrup concluded that the only way to bring peace to Afghanistan was through finding a political solution to 'the growing insurgency' in Pakistan.
"The objective is to get Afghanistan to the state where the government of Afghanistan is continuing and substantially unthreatened by the Taliban in terms of its security and is not a harbor for al-Qaeda," he said.
"It's not to turn Afghanistan into some sort of Asian Switzerland. We have to look upon Afghanistan as a journey continued rather than a destination reached."
Khalid Khawaja, a former senior official of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) told Press TV that Obama's remarks indicated Washington's policy during both the presidents' terms was to deprive Pakistan of nuclear power, rather than quelling the insurgency.
"Even if the whole NATO forces, Indians and the US forces put together and attack, they will ultimately be defeated, because they have no moral authority in those areas," Khawaja concluded.
"The weakness of governance in Afghanistan worries me considerably," Stirrup said. "But governance is not just about what goes on in Kabul. We have to look at the wider picture."
"The Taliban movement … is on both sides of the border. It makes no distinction between one side or the other," he added.
Stirrup concluded that the only way to bring peace to Afghanistan was through finding a political solution to 'the growing insurgency' in Pakistan.
"The objective is to get Afghanistan to the state where the government of Afghanistan is continuing and substantially unthreatened by the Taliban in terms of its security and is not a harbor for al-Qaeda," he said.
"It's not to turn Afghanistan into some sort of Asian Switzerland. We have to look upon Afghanistan as a journey continued rather than a destination reached."
Khalid Khawaja, a former senior official of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) told Press TV that Obama's remarks indicated Washington's policy during both the presidents' terms was to deprive Pakistan of nuclear power, rather than quelling the insurgency.
"Even if the whole NATO forces, Indians and the US forces put together and attack, they will ultimately be defeated, because they have no moral authority in those areas," Khawaja concluded.
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