Lord Ivan Canas: The US has lost the Afgan War. Please read the info section.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taliban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported.

It quoted Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taliban were willing to talk, then that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency.

"We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army," he said.

He said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but that troops may well leave Afghanistan with there still being a low level of insurgency.

But Afghanistan's Defence Minister expressed his disappointment on Sunday at the commander's statements, maintaining the insurgency had to be defeated.

"I think this is the personal opinion of that commander," Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters.

"The main objective of the Afghan government and the whole international community is that we have to defeat this war of terror and be successful," he said.

Wardak said success also depended on how British forces were approaching the problems they faced in Helmand but did not say whether their current strategy was the right one.

Asked if the commander's comments came as a disappointment, Wardak said: "Yes, it is disappointing, for sure."

Britain has around 8,000 troops based in Afghanistan, most of them in the volatile southern province of Helmand, where they face daily battles with a growing insurgency.

NO NEGOTIATIONS WITH "INVADERS"

NATO commanders and diplomats have been saying for some time that the Taliban insurgency cannot be defeated by military means alone and that negotiations with the militants will ultimately be needed to bring an end to the conflict.

"If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this," Carleton-Smith said. "That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."

But a spokesman for the Taliban said on Sunday there would be no negotiations with foreigners and repeated calls made by Taliban commanders for the unconditional withdrawal of the more than 70,000 international troops from Afghanistan.

"They should know that Taliban will never hold talks with the invaders," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told the Pakistan-based Afghan news agency, AIP.

"What we had said in the past, we also say once again, that foreign forces should leave without any condition," he said.

Violence in Afghanistan has increased to its worst level since 2001, when U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the ruling Taliban following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said last week he had asked the king of Saudi Arabia to mediate in talks with the insurgents and called on Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to his homeland and to make peace.

(Writing by Myra MacDonald; additional reporting by Jonathon Burch in Kabul; Editing by Valerie Lee)

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[HabeusCorpus1]

Spinning the story,UK Commander said one day some elements of the Taliban would be part of the settlement like Iraq where former fighters have become part of the discussions,THATS JUST COMMON SENSE YOU CANNOT KILL EVERY TALIBAN WHEN 10O'S THOUSANDS LIVE IN PAKISTAN.

THE TALIBAN IS LOSING THAT IS WHY THEY DON'T FIGHT NATO THEY PLANT BOMBS.

THE TALIBAN HAS LOST EVERY FIRE FIGHT IT HAS HAD WITH NATO,FACT!!!!!!!

[artistdigital]

Pakistan Army should stop Taliban from crossing into and out of Afghanistan?? What would the coalition do? Have snacks and enjoy watching?

Mullah Omar never leaves Afghanistan. He only left Afghanistan once, and that was for talks at the time of Soviet-Afghan war! He is a hardliner Pashtun, who believes in living and dying on his soil!

[knzpx]

9/11 was an inside job by US govt for starting war against the afganistan . don't trust over news media.

[Mfresh43]

@holytemplar Actually I pimp and fuck your mom...the pay is great, man she is one gigantic whore...bitch licks cum up like a fucking vacuum. her pussy is practically a cave but it still gets the job done

[holytemplar]

@Mfresh43 and whats that?? pimping your fat cunt of a mom in oakland. go fuck your mother

[Mfresh43]

@holytemplar I have a very well paying job actually...so fuck yourself

[holytemplar]

@Mfresh43 hahahah stupid american. your country is bankrupted, you have no jobs, yet you still want to pay trillions of dollars to fight this war. enjoy unemployment idiot

[AvtomatPruneJuice]

@charles555558 America uses money it doesnt have to help other countries and to fight wars last time i checked the US had borrowed Billions from China.

[AvtomatPruneJuice]

@Mfresh43 Why dont you take the tampon out of your eyes cause you obviously know nothing about any of this.

Also Vietnam was the same shit the US had no reason to be there and commite heinous war crimes there as well as in the middle east.

[AvtomatPruneJuice]

@Mfresh43 Once you can properly explain to me why conflicts are occuring in the middle east right now you have no right to talk i know why we are fight and I cant help but think about how much of a douch the US and Allies are. The brits have been fighting war ins afghanistan for centuries, why? Its definately not to police the area. The US's involvement leads back to the cold war when the US gave iraq the chem weps, and wmds to use on iran but later(2004) invaded to "find these wmds"

[AvtomatPruneJuice]

@HabeusCorpus1 Thats very funny if NATO - (Several Nations with Technology decades above the talibans(cold-war era) technology)  did lose to the taliban itd be humiliating