ISAS Briefs

On 28 January 2010, the international community met once again in London to discuss Afghanistan. The meeting was called by Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, and was attended by the representatives of 60 governments including Hillary Clinton, the United States (US) Secretary of State. On the eve of the conference, senior Afghan officials began to indicate that they were prepared to work with those in the Taliban movement who were willing to be associated with the government. This position, pushed for some time by Pakistan, seemed acceptable to Washington and other major capitals but with some reservations. President Hamid Karazi asked for US$1.2 billion of donor assistance to help mainstream some of the Taliban. At the same time, General Stanley McChyrstal, the US commander in Afghanistan, indicated that he was convinced that with the help of the additional troops that were on their way to Afghanistan, he could secure the main population centres and protect them from the insurgents? But doubts remain whether these moves will bring peace to the country and bring to an end a conflict that had lasted for more than three decades.