Sacked US General Stanley McChrystal issued a devastatingly critical assessment of the war against a « resilient and growing insurgency » just days before being forced out.

The reality, according to a senior military source, is that General McChrystal’s candour about the reality of the situation was an obstacle to Mr Obama’s search for an « early, face-saving exit » to help his chances in the 2012 presidential elections. « Stan argued for time, and would not compromise. Rolling Stone provided an excuse for Obama to fire the opposition to his plan without having to win an intellectual argument, » he said.

Using confidential military documents, copies of which have been seen by the IoS, the « runaway general » briefed defence ministers from Nato and the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) earlier this month, and warned them not to expect any progress in the next six months. During his presentation, he raised serious concerns over levels of security, violence, and corruption within the Afghan administration.

du côté anglais, Cameron parle du problème Karzai 

Mr Cameron asked for a political settlement to be mapped out at a special cabinet meeting held at Chequers earlier this month, he said. « Cameron doesn’t want to make Brown’s mistake of getting bogged down in details instead of doing grand strategy. »

He said General McChrystal had been urging Washington to « start the political track as soon as possible » while his replacement, General Petraeus, has argued « that we need to get the upper hand militarily and regain the military initiative, and then negotiate from a position of strength ». He said it would take time to recover from General McChrystal’s loss, « particularly if Petraeus just ploughs on with trying to get the upper hand militarily ».