NATO leader blasts Afghan government

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The head of the NATO alliance publicly took on the Afghan government Sunday, insisting that the current Afghan authorities were almost as much to blame for the country's dire straits as the resurgent Taliban.

While avoiding mentioning Afghan President Hamid Karzai by name, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer insisted that the Afghan government was plagued by corruption and lacked efficiency in solving problems.

"The basic problem in Afghanistan is not too much Taliban; it's too little good governance," de Hoop Scheffer wrote in an op-ed article in The Washington Post.

"Afghans need a government that deserves their loyalty and trust; when they have it, the oxygen will be sucked away from the insurgency," he added.

The NATO head said the international community must step up its support of the elected Afghan government and the Afghan people.

"But we have paid enough, in blood and treasure, to demand that the Afghan government take more concrete and vigorous action to root out corruption and increase efficiency, even where that means difficult political choices," de Hoop Scheffer said.

Between 60,000 and 70,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, about three-quarters of them under NATO command, to help the government of President Karzai tackle the mounting Taliban-led insurgency.

About 20,000-30,000 more US soldiers are due to begin deploying in the coming weeks, as US president-elect Barack Obama has pledged to pay more attention to Afghanistan's struggle to fight extremists.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) comprises just over 51,000 troops from nearly 40 countries, according to the latest update released last month.

Most of them are deployed in the south and east of the country, where Taliban militants are most active, to help bring security and extend the government's authority to allow reconstruction and development.