The Obama administration is reviewing its Middle East policy and as promised during the presidential election campaign the central plank of this policy would be Afghanistan, rather than Iraq.

The situation in Afghanistan is complex and armed conflict has now been the order of the day for almost 20 years. The new US administration is making an attempt to bring this river of blood to an end and has stated that it is prepared to discuss with all parties involved, including the Taliban, while at the same time requesting its NATO allies especially France, Germany and Italy to increase the strength of their contingents in the country.

Such a stance is to be commended since the new administration has embarked on a policy which does not seek to justify the actions and decisions of the past but to look ahead to the programming of what is to be done.

Conflict may be resolved in two ways by the outright victory of one side on the other or by peaceful means. Now it should be clear to one and all that the outright victory of one side on the other in Afghanistan is a chimera which has eluded not only the NATO allies but the Soviets in the 20th century and the British before them in the 19th century.

Peaceful resolution of the conflict is on the other hand the way forward. Such an approach would not condone the acts of war taken by either side but would go to tackle the socio-economic reasons underlying the existing conflict situation.

Enough blood has been spilled for all parties concerned to move a step backward and in the words of John Lennon “Give Peace a chance.”

Mario Mifsud

Hamrun