Is the Taliban winning ?
| 10:41 UK time, Thursday, 1 July 2010
The Taliban are in :
"We do not want to talk to anyone - not to [President Hamid] Karzai, nor to any foreigners - till the foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan"
They believe they've got NATO forces on the run and in disarray and therefore see no no need to compromise.
The Taliban may have a point - this has been the bloodiest month in terms of NATO deaths : 102 , which averages at three deaths a day.
And then there was the sacking of General Stanley McChrystal, which as far as the Taliban is concerned shows the disarray at the highest level of command:
"Why should we talk if we have the upper hand, and the foreign troops are considering withdrawal, and there are differences in the ranks of our enemies?"
Here's what the 91Èȱ¬'s John Simpson says faces the new man in charge, General Petraeus (above):
His main aim will be to reverse the growing belief in Afghanistan that the Americans, the British and the others will pull out soon, and leave the country to fight out its own war - with the Taliban the likely winners.
Is the Taliban winning ?
