Surge In Afghanistan? Send in the People Who Won't Go Home!

Looks like NATO having trouble getting people to deploy to Afghanistan is only half the problem, as other coalition members are looking for the way out.

Major world powers opened talks Thursday seeking an end to the grinding conflict in Afghanistan, drafting plans to hand over security responsibilities to local forces and quell the insurgency with an offer of jobs and housing to lure Taliban fighters to renounce violence.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai greeted delegates from about 70 nations and institutions in London, seeking to win new international support after more than eight years of combat which is threatening to exhaust public good will in the West.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen also joined talks aimed at setting targets to transfer security control of several Afghan provinces to the local police and military by the end of 2010.
"This is a decisive time for the international cooperation that is helping the Afghan people secure and govern their own country," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, opening the one-day talks. "This conference marks the beginning of the transition process."
Brown said the conference would set a target for Afghanistan to increase its military to 171,600 by Oct. 2011, and boost police numbers to 134,00 by the same date. "By the middle of next year we have to turn the tide," he said.

Of course, if Lord-of-all-Uzbeks, Islam Karimov gets his way, the West would leave Afghanistan for good.

The president of Uzbekistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan, has urged the West to stop using military force in its fight against the Taliban and focus more on rebuilding the country's shattered economy.

Uzbekistan's support for U.S.-led military efforts in Afghanistan important because the country, like the rest of Central Asia, lies on a new supply route for NATO forces fighting a resurgent Taliban.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov addressed parliament on Wednesday and said military efforts had become largely useless. His speech was published on the official uza.uz website on Thursday.

"Over the past 30 years billions and billions have been spent to solve the Afghan problem," he said. "It looks obvious today that the entire approach has to be changed to settle the situation in this country."

By: Brant