Space Travel News  
THE STANS
British commander expects no clear Afghan victory: report

Afghanistan needs more than military action: defence minister
Military action alone will not solve Afghanistan's conflict, which must also be tackled on the political front, the defence minister said Sunday amid fresh talk about negotiations with Taliban. "The war that we are fighting now does not have only a military solution," Defence Minister Mohammad Rahim Wardak told reporters. "We have to fight it on different fronts, political, military and financial fronts," he said. Karzai last week called on fugitive militant leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is on a US "most wanted" list, to step forward for negotiations to end a seven-year-long insurgency that has paralysed post-Taliban reconstruction. He said he had been asking Saudi Arabia for two years to help engage the Taliban militia in peace talks. Wardak reiterated the Afghan government position that negotiations with Taliban were with the condition that the militants accept the post-Taliban constitution. "Anyone who wants to get to power should try political means and elections," he said. In September 2007, the Afghan president said for the first time that he was ready to talk to Mullah Omar after earlier saying that he wanted negotiations with lower-level militant leaders. Afghan and international efforts to defeat the Taliban on the battlefield have made little headway with the violence only mounting year on year, raising alarm in a country trying to rebuild after decades of war.
by Staff Writers
 London (AFP) Oct 5, 2008
 Britain's top military commander in Afghanistan said in an interview Sunday the public should not expect "decisive military victory" there, only the reduction of the insurgency to manageable levels.

Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, which has just completed its second tour in Afghanistan, told the Sunday Times that people should "lower their expectations" about how the conflict will end.

He also said Britons should prepare for a possible deal with the Taliban.

"We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army," he told the newspaper.

Carleton-Smith said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but said it would be "unrealistic and probably incredible" to think that the multinational forces in Afghanistan could rid the country of armed bands.

"We may well leave with there still being a low but steady ebb of rural insurgency... I don't think we should expect that when we go there won't be roaming bands of armed men in this part of the world," he said.

The brigadier added: "If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this.

"That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."

Britain has 7,800 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US-led operations.

Related Links
 News From Across The Stans


Memory Foam Mattress Review
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
 Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


THE STANS
Suspected US missile kills 20 militants in Pakistan: officials
 Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) Oct 3, 2008
 A suspected US missile destroyed a house in a Pakistan tribal region bordering Afghanistan Friday, killing around 20 Al-Qaeda-linked militants, mostly foreign nationals, officials said.






ROCKET SCIENCE
  • NASA And Air Force Work To Establish Hypersonic Science Centers
  • Iran To Conduct First Satellite Launch Soon
  • Outside View: Reusable rocket breakthrough
  • Grant For Eco-Friendly Rocket Engine

    • LAUNCH PAD
  • Chandrayaan-I Moved To Sriharikota For Launch
  • GOCE Team Gearing Up For New Launch Date
  • Russia Launches Thai Satellite On Converted Missile
  • Sea Launch Successfully Delivers Galaxy 19 To Orbit

    • SHUTTLE NEWS
  • Trouble on Hubble telescope delays space shuttle launch: NASA
  • Astronauts Prepare For Countdown Rehearsal
  • Shuttle Astronauts Begin Prelaunch Training Milestone
  • Endeavour's move to launch pad set

    • STATION NEWS
  • ISS Orbit Adjusted By Russian Progress Ship
  • Boeing Receives ISS Contract Extension
  • Europe's "space truck" heads for Pacific breakup
  • Russia's Space Agency Confirms 18th ISS Expedition

    • SPACE TRAVEL
  • Scientists working on space elevator
  • International Space Station changes orbit awaiting tourist: report
  • Rare Herbal Plants Aboard Shenzhou-7 Spacecraft Studied
  • Magnetic Hunger Could Drive Space Travelers Insane

    • DRAGON SPACE
  • Analysis: China space launch raises fears
  • China Sets Sights On First Space Station
  • Emergency Rescue Vessels For Shenzhou-7 Spaceship Return
  • China hails spacewalk 'heroes' and sets eyes on moon

    • ROBO SPACE
  • iRobot Awarded US Army Contract For Robotic Systems
  • Robots Learn To Follow
  • Robot-assisted surgery repairs fistulas
  • Japanese Researchers Eye e-Skin For Robots

    • MARSDAILY
  • An Opportunity For A Tour Will Be An Endeavour
  • Nicaraguan Volcano Provides Insight Into Early Mars
  • Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past
  • Opportunity Slipping Like A Dune Buggy

    • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement