Afghan war ‘cannot be won’

THE public should not expect “a decisive military victory” in Afghanistan, Britain’s most senior military commander in the country warned yesterday.

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said the aim was to reduce the uprising to a level at which it could be managed by the Afghan army and this could involve talking to the Taliban.

It was necessary to “lower our expectations” and accept it would be unrealistic to expect that multinational forces can rid Afghanistan of armed bands.