Afghan report

In a 2010 report published in Berlin on Tuesday, Germany's five top think tanks have criticized NATO's new approach to the war in Afghanistan.

NATO's recently adopted tactic of launching large-scale counter-insurgency operations in an attempt to create security for the civilian population won't succeed, said Margret Johannsen of the Hamburg-based Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, one of the authors of the study.

"I don't believe that its possible to, at the same time, chase Taliban and build efficient state structures," she says. "It is necessary to emphasize reconciliation. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is trying to do this knowing that otherwise he won't be able to build an Afghan army that is accepted by the population as well as an accepted police force."

Instead, the think tanks say they clearly favor the policy adopted by Karzai, who - they say - appears to be moving away from a strategy of bombing the Taliban to one in which he is willing to talk with them.

Taliban talks

The 2010 report goes on to describe Afghanistan as fragile, its government as corrupt and its civil society as hugely fragmented. The researchers say the only hope for stabilizing Afghanistan lies in the country's traditional tribal power structure.

The Western aim of establishing a democratic state with respect for human rights simply won't materialize, they add. For this reason, a pact with the devil is unavoidable, says Johannsen, inferring that Taliban leaders must be offered a power-sharing deal.

"Those leaders are interested in having their share of the power, so to speak," she says. "This must include security guarantees, also material incentives as well as that their honor is being respected so that they can, without losing their self-respect, lay down their arms."

The think tanks call on Western leaders to stop demonizing the Taliban, commenting that this only makes the extremists more resentful and less open to dialog.

Approach to Iran

The institutes also found fault with Western leaders for their cautious response to Monday's nuclear fuel accord struck between Brazil, Turkey and Iran.

They said continuing to demonize Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would make it more difficult for the Western leaders to have Iran halt its nuclear program, which they fear is secretly aimed at building a nuclear weapon.

Johannsen says the West must adopt a more proactive policy towards Iran, which would start with welcoming the initiative taken by Turkey and Brazil, which will see Tehran swap low-enriched uranium with Ankara in exchange for highly enriched uranium rods to be used for medical research.

She says the West must "ensure Iran that they do not have to fear regime change by force or, secondly, a military attack on their nuclear installations.

"And the West should also make it very clear that Israel would be on its own if they engaged in a military adventure. I don't believe that sanctions will work. More sanctions will only mean more harm for the people."

Author: Uwe Hessler / dfm

Editor: Nancy Isenson