英美报刊选读12英美报刊选读12.doc

The truth about Taliban ‘reintegration From the Daily Telegraph of February 12, 2012 The much-vaunted reintegration of the Taliban, which Britain has funded with ￡7 million, is not quite what it seems, writes Ben Farmer in Kabul. Former Taliban militants attend a ceremony during which they surrender under an US-backed Afghan government anmesty program, in Herat, Afghanistan? Wrapped in shawls against the cold, some with scarves to hide their faces, the men stand in front of a table bearing an arsenal of assault rifles and rockets. As the insurgents renounce their armed struggle and declare they have made peace with Hamid Karzais government, local journalists film the ceremony for the evening television. Such scenes are now a common feature of Afghan news bulletins and portray one of the main pillars of Natos strategy to overpower the Taliban and force them to the negotiating table prior to the planned exit by US and British forces. However, The Sunday Telegraph has discovered disturbing evidence that all is not as it seems. New figures have now shown that over the last 18 months the reintegration scheme which Britain has funded with ￡7 million has attracted only 19 militants in Helmand province, where British troops are fighting. And in at least one Afghan province, the insurgents pledging to change their ways and uphold the Afghan constitution were not what they seemed, officials have disclosed. Some 200 insurgents in the northern province of Sar-e Pol have recently been struck off the programme, officials told The Sunday Telegraph, because checks subsequently found they were not genuine fighters but instead imposters seeking cash handouts. The news will not surprise the schemes sceptics who allege that Western tax-payers are being duped by criminals, the unemployed and corrupt local officials while the real fighters stay in the conflict, or only join the government temporarily. A leaked Nato report earlier this month also appeared to cast doubt on the very prem