Stanley McChrystal, the Nato commander in Afghanistan, has raised the prospect that his troop surge will lead to a negotiated peace with the Taliban and will urge his allies to renew their commitment to his strategy at a conference in London this week.
In a Financial Times interview, Gen McChrystal acknowledged growing scepticism about the war, but said he was poised to make “very demonstrably positive” progress this year as a result of the arrival of an extra 30,000 US troops.
By using the reinforcements to create an arc of secure territory stretching from the Taliban's southern heartlands to Kabul, Gen McChrystal aims to weaken the insurgency to the point where its leaders would accept some form of settlement with Afghanistan's government.