Afghanistan: London conference will not stabilise the 'good war' gone bad

Protesters were to make their opposition to the war in Afghanistan clear at a meeting of world leaders in London this week.
Top government officials planned to come together to restabilise the Nato occupation of Afghanistan.
It is going so badly that key figures are proposing negotiations with sections of the Taliban.
Gordon Brown is hosting the event which will include European leaders, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan.
Kai Eide, the United Nations special representative in Afghanistan, explained the Taliban U-turn, saying, “If you want relevant results, then you have to talk to the relevant person in authority. I think the time has come to do it.”
Eide wants the US to drop certain leading Taliban members from its list of terrorists in order to open up negotiations.
Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, has also joined the call for talks saying there has been “enough fighting”.
He believes Obama’s 30,000 strong troop surge will aid this process, weakening the Taliban and making them “look desperate”. He believes that this could lead to them looking to make peace.
It is highly unlikely that this will be the result of the surge.
The resistance to the occupation is growing in confidence. Last week the Taliban launched attacks in the centre of Kabul.
Plans by the British military to launch a new offensive in the Helmand province will see the deaths of countless Afghans and British soldiers.
But US pressure on other countries to send more troops is having some effect.
It was leaked this week that the German government plans to send a further 500 soldiers. This is despite their pledge to reduce troop numbers because of public opposition to the war.
The conference is designed to apply more of this pressure, seeing more troops sent to kill and be killed.
The war has wrecked the lives of Afghan people and will continue to do so while the occupation continues.
The conference will also discuss Yemen—set to become a new front in the “war on terror”.
The anti-war movement cannot allow this to happen. We must step up the pressure to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Only this can end the ongoing devastation.