Afghan war 'harder than expected

June 27, 2010
Aljazeera


Leon Panetta, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, has said that the US-led war in Afghanistan is both "harder" and moving more slowly than expected.
Panetta said he believed Barack Obama, the US president, is pursuing "the right strategy" in Afghanistan. But he acknowledged that recent news from the war-torn country has been largely negative.


"There are some serious problems," Panetta said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday.
"We're dealing with tribal societies. We're dealing with a country that has problems with governance, problems with corruption, problems with narcotics trafficking, problems with a Taliban insurgency." Panetta also touched on several other key security issues in the wide-ranging interview.
He said there are "at most... 50 to 100" members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and that the bulk of the organisation is based across the border in Pakistan. US intelligence officials estimate al-Qaeda has less than 300 active members worldwide.

Panetta also defended US policy in Pakistan, saying that everything the US does there is "compliant with US and international law". The CIA runs the US programme of aerial drone strikes in Pakistan, though it does not publicly admit its role.
The CIA director also said the Iranian government has the capacity to produce a nuclear weapon within two years, though he stopped short of saying Iran had decided to pursue such a policy. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

Source:http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/06/2010627182031776721.html