© AFP Photo / Brendan SmialowskiArmy Gen. Stanley McChrystal
A retired US general who commanded NATO troops in Afghanistan for one year has warned that as the Middle Eastern nation sits on the brink of civil war, western forces must contend with widespread resentment about the US drone program.
General Stanley McChrystal, who led troops in Afghanistan from June 2009 to June 2010 before stepping aside after criticizing US President Obama in an interview with
Rolling Stone, told the BBC that the West must help Afghanistan even after pulling out military forces.
He said that while the Taliban may not have the strength to fully re-take Afghanistan, the Islamist extremists would certainly be among the groups involved in an armed conflict.
"I think that would be a return - in the minds of the Afghans - to what they experienced in 1989," McChrystal said. "But I don't think the Taliban have the strength to come in and take over Afghanistan...There is enough capacity in that country, and certainly enough ties that bind to avoid that."
What has proven more difficult to avoid is the "tremendous amount of resentment" that US drones have caused throughout the region. When questioned about the future of surveillance and bombing conducted by the unmanned aerial vehicles, McChrystal said there is a danger that drones will be used as an "antiseptic."
Comment: This is the case with most if not all 'suicide bombings'. They're military intelligence operations where someone willingly, or under coercion, takes part in planting explosives that are then detonated remotely or with a timer.
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