Leak should prompt Afghan reappraisal

The astonishing leak of 92,000 secret documents from Nato and US sources have shown that the coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, and endured a serious increase in the number of Taliban attacks which have not been made public.

The documents also make very clear deep concerns from Nato officers that Pakistan and Iran have been active in fuelling the Taliban insurgency.

This vast leak of confidential information has embarrassed and infuriated the military and intelligence establishments of the United States and other Nato countries. It is true that in some cases the documents may reveal information with some risk to serving personnel.

However, this risk is outweighed by much enhanced public knowledge of the serious mismanagement of the war in Afghanistan. The public has the right to expect that their armed forces are fighting for a clear cause, with the best kit available, and being given the best leadership possible. This is not the case in Afghanistan.

Nato forces first went into Afghanistan to attack Al Qaida and their Taliban allies. Then mission-creep started and slowly the Nato forces found themselves tasked with nation-building, and fighting the drug lords of Afghanistan. This is not what Nato is for, and these are the wrong reasons to be in Afghanistan. There is further confusion given that Nato and the Afghan government say they want to talk to the Taliban, yet persist in fighting them tooth and nail.

The Wikileaks Afghan War Dairy will force the military and intelligence forces to be more honest about what they are doing, and to admit that they have become confused and are failing. The attempt to hide this from the public must now be truly abandoned, so that an honest reappraisal of the mission can start.