Doubts Cloud US War Tactics

WASHINGTON - For the first time, critics are openly questioning US strategy in Afghanistan, as officials weigh where the war on terrorism will lead next. In particular, the reliance on Afghan forces to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda troops on the ground — a centerpiece of US strategy — has been the target of increasing criticism among experts and in the US press. The local forces are suspected of having let top terror suspect Osama bin Laden, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and hundreds of their followers escape from the Tora Bora region in eastern Afghanistan and from around the city of Kandahar in the south.“Relying on proxies to capture Tora Bora rather than using our own troops may have enabled bin Laden and most of his chief lieutenants to escape,” said James Lindsay of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. Pentagon officials are facing more frequent questions on whether the Afghan forces can be trusted. “You know, we know, over the last several weeks and months, some people have changed sides probably more than once,” acknowledged Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke. On Tuesday, Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he wanted Afghan’s interim government to hand over top Taliban officials, including three former ministers, who have been released in Kandahar under an amnesty agreement. The fruitless hunt for bin Laden has also sparked criticism, though some observers contend that bin Laden’s capture in itself is not that important. “My sense is that we are making a big mistake in overpersonalizing this issue,” former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told CNN. “The issue is much bigger than he. He, in some way, is a symbol ... He’s either dead or in hiding.His operation in Afghanistan has been massively disrupted. And yet, the phenomenon of terrorism goes on.” AFPEnds