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Associated PressEx-diplomat: Afghan's Karzai falteringBy SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 18 minutes ago
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government,
tarnished by corruption and unable to control large swaths of
its own territory, is rapidly losing the support of ordinary
Afghans, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
Richard Holbrooke said Saturday.
Holbrooke said NATO, which has committed 36,000 troops to
Afghanistan, was at risk of losing the war against the Taliban.
The United States has deployed an additional 11,000 troops in
the eastern border region with Pakistan.
"I can sense a tremendous deterioration in the standing of the
government. Afghans are now universally talking about their
disappointment with Karzai. Let's be honest with ourselves ...
the government must succeed or else the Taliban will gain from
it," he told the Brussels Forum, an annual trans-Atlantic
security conference.
Taliban guerrillas have vastly expanded their activities during
the past year. Insurgents have now returned to many regions
outside their traditional strongholds in the east that were
rebel-free since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
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