Taliban see Victory as inevitable, Afghan soldiers hooking up with the Taliban, as Obama facilitates exit strategy ahead of 2012 election

As President Obama facilitates his exit strategy in Afghanistan ahead of the 2012 Presidential elction, Afghan troops have been left with little choice but to hook up with the Taliban, knowing full well that U.S. troops are on their way out and that the Taliban will soon return to power.

The Taliban are already preparing their victory celebration.

From the Telegraph-UK:

Afghan soldiers are selling their weapons and vehicles to the Taliban, sharing intelligence and even signing covert ceasefire agreements with the insurgent group as they prepare for the withdrawal of Nato forces, according to a classified military report.

Despite Britain and its western allies having spent billions on training and equipping Afghanistan's security forces, they are freely co-operating with the Taliban and in some cases, ceding territory without a fight or even joining forces with their opponents.

The report is based on the interrogation of thousands of captured Taliban prisoners, but it makes depressing reading for Coalition...

According to the Nato study, Taliban fighters believe they have overcome the American troop surge, that victory and their return to power is "inevitable" and that they can easily subdue President Hamid Karzai's forces once they take charge of security in 2014...

[The report also says that] the Pakistani government remains "intimately involved" with the insurgent group. Taliban prisoners also claim [Pakistan's] ISI intelligence agency is "thoroughly aware of Taliban activities and the whereabouts of all senior Taliban personnel"...

The report, called "State of the Taliban", found there had been growing interest over the past 12 months from members of Mr Karzai's government in cooperating with, or even joining their opponents.

It also found increasing reports of "outright coordination, equipment transfers, intelligence sharing or occasionally even the incorporation of Afghan security forces in Taliban operations".

Afghan police and soldiers had in some places formed informal ceasefires or non-aggression pacts with their local insurgent enemies as they prepared for a future after Nato forces. These deals often included pledges from the security forces that they would support the Taliban in the long term, according to the report.

"The Taliban are absolutely confident in their ability to subdue Afghan security forces," it said.

Training the Afghan police and army to take charge of security in Afghanistan is the foundation of Nato's strategy to withdraw combat troops by the end of 2014.

However the report said detainees had claimed the Afghan security forces were selling or giving away the weapons which the West has donated.

A bazaar in Miranshah, capital of North Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal region, was "increasingly inundated with rifles, pistols and heavy weapons which have been sold by Afghan security forces."

"The vehicles and weapons were once only acquired on the battlefield. They are now regularly sold or donated by the Afghan security forces," the report concluded.

Pictures of Taliban fighters driving in Afghan army vehicles or posing with their weapons had become common trophies in the conflict...

The report found that morale remained high in the Taliban movement despite repeated claims by Nato commanders that they have broken its momentum.

"As opposed to years past [when George W. Bush was President and Obama's "surender" strategy had yet to be announced], detainees [now] have become more confident not only in their potential to win, but the virtue of their cause," it said...

"I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”
President Obama in a White House meeting explaining why he was seeking a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan - Source Obama's Wars