Faraway Afghanistan brings home tensions among allies.

• Author: Leathers, James
• Position: Defense

A growing sense of crisis about NATO's mission in Afghanistan crystallized in Washington early this year with the release of near-simultaneous reports on the outlook there--all similar-sounding warnings to the effect that the campaign to restore government authority against insurgent Taliban forces and pacify the country has been neglected, under-resourced and damaged by conflicting views about the mission's purpose.

"Make no mistake," began one of these reports: "NATO is not winning in Afghanistan." This study, entitled Saving Afghanistan and published by the Washington-based Atlantic Council, emphasized the need for greater progress in civilian reconstruction, at least in areas free of insurgent attack. In the long run, it argued, no amount of Afghan and Western military power can completely defeat the Taliban as long as its fighters can still find a safe haven in neighboring Pakistan.

The need for a major new effort to succeed in Afghanistan was also the theme of recent independent reports by the Afghanistan Study Group and by the National Defense University. All three reports concur that without prompt actions by the United States and its allies, the mission in Afghanistan may fail--causing severe consequences to U.S. strategic interests worldwide, including the war on terrorism, and the future of NATO. The U.S. cannot afford to let Afghanistan continue to be the neglected, or forgotten, war. All said that the Taliban cannot "defeat" NATO, but concluded that a quasi-stalemate would be a very serious blow to the alliance.

These reports described heightened tensions between the conflict's major players, including leaders in the U.S. and Europe, NATO commanders, and the Afghan government in Kabul. The reports have called into question not only the future success of the Afghan mission, but the future of the alliance itself if it fails in Afghanistan, its first military mission outside Europe.

This "critical importance of succeeding in Afghanistan" was the main theme of a year-long review by the Afghanistan Study Group entitled, Revitalizing our Energies, Reorganizing our Strategies. This panel was organized by David M. Abshire, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, and co-chaired by Thomas Pickering, a former high official in the State Department and General James L. Jones, the former top military offi cer of NATO. Calling it a crucial challenge for the alliance, the group listed greater and better international coordination and cooperation...