Afghan insurgency given new life by their enemies

Paul McGeough
October 24, 2009 - 6:07PM

This is the full text of an address given last Thursday by Paul McGeough, the chief correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, at a conference on the Afghanistan crisis which was organised by the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra

In their rush to congratulate President Hamid Karzai on buckling to a second Afghan presidential election this week, world leaders heaved a sigh of relief. But none bothered – at least, not in public – to canvas the part played by the international community in bringing Afghanistan to the brink.

That is what makes the 60-page assessment of the conflict by US General Stanley McChrystal a damning document, more because of who he is than what he actually has to say.