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