MEDIA REACTION: EXIT FROM AFGHANISTAN

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000002



SIPDIS



STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: EXIT FROM AFGHANISTAN



1. SUMMARY: Nepal's state-owned English daily, The

Rising Nepal (circulation: 5,000),on Monday,

January 4 published an OP-ED piece titled "Easy

Entry, Exacting Exit," by a journalism professor and

former chief editor of the paper. The piece

discussed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from

Afghanistan and said that without adequate capacity

building of the Afghan government, Washington will

have to postpone a complete pullout for a longer

period.



2. EXCERPTS: "US President Barack Obama seems to be

responding to the military needs in Afghanistan and,

at the same, time finding an exit path in the

eventual course for both American and other foreign

forces stationed in that war-torn country that has

seen one war after another since the last 30 years,

without any definitive certainty as to when exactly

peace and normalcy will return."



3. "Even as casualties mount and expenses pile up

while years pass by, the major capitals among the 42

[alliance courtiers] are aware that the exit plan is

extremely difficult to formulate, let alone

implement."



4. "Washington's strategy seems to be a two-pronged

one - try to make a significantly increased troop

deployment to check the insurgents and strengthen

the Afghan government's capacity to hold on to the

situation effectively on its own and."



5. "Clearly, the exit is not becoming as easy as

the entry nearly nine years ago. The exit will be

complex, and the allies helping Afghan President

Hamid Karzai's government cannot just leave the land

without ensuring that the Kabul regime of the day is

strong enough to at least fend off the Taliban."



6. "The Taliban today has spread its tentacles at

the grassroots level. Analysts think that Al-Qaeda

is no longer a major factor in the Afghan war, where

the principal combatants are now the American

military and the Taliban. There are fears that an

American withdrawal any time soon might lead to

division of Afghan territory along ethnic lines.

This is an area where Washington will have to devote

much attention in view of the fact that a phased

pullout of the US troops is expected to start next

year. Without adequate capacity building of the

Afghan government, Washington will have to postpone

a complete pullout for a longer period."



ORDWAY