'Afghan war out of US control'

At least nine US-led troops have been killed in Afghanistan over the past 72 hours as foreign forces experience their deadliest days in the war-ravaged country.


According to official figures, more than 2,594 US-led soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001.

The increasing number of troop casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

Press TV interviewed Peter Eyre, a Middle East consultant from London to further discuss the situation.

Press TV: Mr. Eyre, what has the US-led coalition achieved after a decade of war, there's more insecurity and as every day passes, we see more foreign troops casualties?

Eyre: Yes, in actual fact if you compare the death toll for last year, it was 521 in 2009 and only six months into this year we are already up to 600.

So there is a clear message here that they have really lost control of the war scenario and what is disturbing for the British people is that one stage when they repatriated the bodies back to the airbases in southern England, there used to be a special ceremony through the local village.

That is now being curtailed. It is as if they are trying to hide the ongoing death toll from the public and that is disgusting really because the people in this country should know exactly what is going on.

Press TV: Yes, Mr. Eyre, just speaking about the strategy that has been adopted up until now in Afghanistan, we are of course hearing that by 2014 what is expected is that all the responsibilities will be handed over to Afghan troops and a withdraw has been planned.

However, we are hearing that that of course is not certain that we will be expecting a stay beyond 2014 and even the permanent bases to be established in Afghanistan for foreign presence especially the American presence.

But do you think that the American military can give a proper explanation to its people for having these permanent bases when we are seeing these casualties, I mean, how long can this take place with the consent of the people?

Eyre: Well, I think this is a bit of a false deception because the bases as you actually pointed out are very well established and there is no intention of closing them down. They are significant bases as is their embassy in Kabul which is one of the biggest in the world.

If one can relate to Iraq, when there was a draw down there on the troops again this was a misconception because although you are drawing down on active troops nothing is said about the private security forces that are going in.

There were about 100,000 private security companies in Iraq that are still there and of course these people are totally undisciplined and not under military command. So I would have some reservation about as to whether that drawdown is realistic.