Britain tells US: We're winning Afghan battles but not the war

Britain is risking a new foreign policy rift with the US after bluntly telling the Bush Administration that it is "winning the battles but losing the war" in Afghanistan. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, fear that the US remains "fixated" by Iraq. Disagreement has surfaced already over the US military's desire to spray opium poppy fields from the air with herbicide, as well as to continue its bombing strikes on Afghan villages, which Britain complains undermines its strategy of "winning hearts and minds." Other areas of contention include what Britain regards as Washington's indulgent attitude towards Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, who is accused of tolerating, even conniving with, widespread corruption inside his government. One source said: "The Americans see a bit of military success in Afghanistan and think it's all fine. They are blinkered by Iraq and this is becoming symptomatic of a lack of serious engagement on policy across the piste." Miliband has instigated a strategy overhaul on Afghanistan which, although not a formal "review," is causing alarm within a US administration still smarting over Britain's withdrawal of troops from Basra in southern Iraq this week. State Department and Pentagon officials have told The Times that Britain appears to "want rid of Karzai," while others have complained through diplomatic channels about "mixed messages" coming from the Brown Government. The UK Foreign Office denies that it is seeking Karzai's removal, but diplomats admit that there is a "sharp difference of opinion with the Americans" about the Afghan President.