A wake-up call on Afghanistan

Re “War on West shifts back to Afghanistan,” Oct. 25

So I guess the take-away from this development is that Al Qaeda has been more successful at turning over the war in Iraq to the Iraqis than the Bush administration. We’re bogged down in Baghdad; Al Qaeda is opening a second front in a place we were supposed to have secured. What a disaster!

MIKE PLANT

Escondido

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The increasing exodus of foreign fighters from Iraq to Afghanistan should serve as a wake-up call for both American and NATO forces to make strategic adjustments and mentally prepare themselves for a wave of suicide bombings.

Attempts will be made to kidnap soldiers of NATO members to mount domestic pressure on their respective governments to pull out.

Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan is gradually descending into chaos. But like Iraq, the war is going to be long. Afghanistan is a country of many ethnic groups and tribes, with certain factions always owing allegiance to either the Taliban or the Northern Alliance. Every effort must be made to prevent the rise of sectarian hatred in Afghanistan like it has in Iraq.

Allied forces have a moral responsibility to prevent the recurrence of butchering that has come to characterize the insurgency in Iraq.

CHAITANYA RAVI

Pune, India