Dramatic Taliban resurgence detailed

An analysis of the situation in Afghanistan last fall prepared for top levels of the Canadian government warned that the country was becoming "two Afghanistans" with the situation in the fractious South and West continuing to deteriorate and the position of President Hamid Karzai "weakening to a new low." This grim assessment of Afghan reality was prepared last November by the International Assessment Staff of the Privy Council Office (PCO), which effectively acts as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government department. A series of heavily censored documents prepared by the PCO were obtained by The Globe and Mail after Access to Information requests by information expert Jeff Esau. The briefing notes, with the author's name, were apparently intended for Gregory Fyffe, executive director of the 60-strong assessment unit, and were prepared after Canadian NATO troops based in Kandahar in the volatile southern region had suffered several bloody months of combat. "The Taliban resurgence has been dramatic," stated a document dated Nov. 9, 2006. It describes how the faltering insurgency was given a huge boost by support from sources in Pakistan, the Gulf states and "Jihadi-minded groups and individuals." "The unpredicted success that suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had in southern Afghanistan last winter further reinforced the spiraling growth of financial assistance, recruitment, training, equipping and morale improvement" of the Taliban, it said, noting that insurgent spirits were particularly raised with the high-profile shooting down of several helicopters. Because of expanding poppy cultivation and the growing insurgency, the analysis noted, the deterioration of security had effectively created "two Afghanistans" with the North and West advancing while the South and East remain "fractious and relatively stagnant." As for Karzai, the PCO analysis noted that his leadership is "continuously challenged and eroded by the many problems facing Afghanistan and the complex relationships over which he has no control. Consequently, Karzai's support may be weakening to a new low." It adds that Karzai faces "questions of legitimacy for his governance team -- both in Kabul and out in the provinces." The blunt analysis of the situation is in stark contrast with other Afghan-related documents released at the same time by the PCO and which consist of upbeat "messages and story lines" about how well things were going in Afghanistan and how there were "signs of progress, unthinkable only a few years ago." These messages are clearly aimed at bolstering shaky public support for the mission. "By supporting the rebuilding of institutions such as independent courts, police and the army, Canada is on the ground laying the foundation for Afghans to govern themselves and secure a better future," one of the documents said. In contrast, the more candid PCO assessment notes only "mixed success" in reforming the Afghan justice system and addressing "a culture of immunity among major warlords, criminals, drug lords and political figures." And it calls Afghan security forces "weak and undeveloped."