Le rapport du Pentagone sur l’Afghanistan après 6 mois d’“offensive”

Le rapport du Pentagone sur l’Afghanistan après 6 mois d’“offensive”

Le New York Times du 29 avril 2010 (Lien : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/world/asia/30afghan.html) donne un compte-rendu du rapport que le Pentagone doit donner tous les six mois au Congrès après le début de l’offensive (dite “surge”) décidée par le président Obama. La considération générale est peu encourageante: «A Pentagon report on the last six months in Afghanistan portrays an Afghan government with limited credibility among its people, a still active if not growing insurgency and an enormous reliance on American troops to train, outfit and finance the country’s defense forces for the foreseeable future.»

Parmi les aspects négatifs (sur lesquels nous nous précipitons), il y a ceci:

«Pulling in the opposite direction, however, was the Pentagon’s assessment of the insurgency, which it found to be tenacious, with “robust means of sustaining its operations” in terms of arms, financing and recruits.

» “Its operational capabilities and organizational reach are qualitatively and geographically expanding,” the report said. It added that the “strength and ability of shadow governance to discredit the authority and legitimacy of the Afghan government is increasing.”

»The report notes that the insurgents have proved adept at returning after a military operation to clear them out and at regaining a foothold by using intimidation and selected executions. Far from winning the support of the population, the Taliban are seen by 52 percent of Afghans as the chief cause of instability, and this perception provides the Afghan government with an opportunity to show itself as the protector of the people. The government has yet to take advantage of that.

»The insurgency appears to have expanded its influence in Badghis and Faryab Provinces in the northwest, where there has been little international troop presence in the past.

»The slow progress in training Afghan security forces has greatly concerned NATO and especially the United States. Ultimately, the creation of a capable Afghan army and police force will enable international forces to leave Afghanistan. There is a lack of trainers, and some NATO countries that promised to contribute them have yet to send significant numbers to augment their current forces.

»In the case of the police, many in the Afghan force are not only illiterate and poorly trained, but also hampered by a nearly nonexistent judicial system, which undermines even their best efforts. Corruption, incompetence and threats make it uncertain whether a person detained by the police will be held, prosecuted or sentenced.»

Jacques Laubion