WASHINGTON, Jan 18: Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has denounced Afghanistan’s “ineffective” government and said the authorities there are almost as much to blame for the country’s plight as the Taliban.

And in response, the Afghan government has said its foreign allies must share the blame for the dire straits the country finds itself in.

The comments by the Nato secretary-general, in an opinion piece for The Washington Post newspaper on Sunday, were an unusually strong expression of the alliance’s dissatisfaction with the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Mr Scheffer did not mention Mr Karzai by name, but his remarks came at a politically sensitive time for the Afghan leader who is due for re-election this year.

Analysing the situation in the country seven years after the toppling of the Taliban regime, Mr Scheffer argued that the Afghans and their western allies “are not where we might have hoped to be by now”. While the country’s north and west were largely at peace, the south and east were “riven by insurgency, drugs and ineffective government”, he wrote.

Adopting a rather harsh tone, the Nato leader went on to insist that “the basic problem in Afghanistan is not too much Taliban; it’s too little good governance”.

“Afghans need a government that deserves their loyalty and trust; when they have it, the oxygen will be sucked away from the insurgency,” he added.

Mr Scheffer said the international community must still step up its support for Afghanistan. “But we have paid enough, in blood and treasure, to demand that the Afghan government take more concrete and vigorous action to root out corruption and increase efficiency, even where that means difficult political choices.”

Between 60,000 and 70,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, about three-quarters of them under Nato command, to help the government of President Karzai tackle the mounting Taliban-led insurgency.

Another 20,000 to 30,000 more US soldiers are due to begin deploying in the coming weeks, as US President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to make Afghanistan his central front in the “war on terror”.

As he underscored the importance of Afghanistan for the West, Mr Scheffer also hinted that the patience of Nato member nations might not be limitless. “The populations in countries that have contributed troops to the Nato-led mission are wondering how long this operation must last -- and how many young men and women we will lose carrying it out,” he wrote.

Signs of brewing disaffection between the West and the Karzai government began appearing last June, when The New York Times reported that US officials were growing increasingly frustrated with the Afghan president. They argued he was not up to addressing Afghanistan’s many troubles.

The officials expressed particular frustration over Mr Karzai’s refusal to arrest drug lords who were running the country’s opium trade. Many international observers believe the Taliban have used this trade to fuel their comeback, according to the report.

Kabul’s rebuttal: The Afghan government said its foreign allies must share the responsibility for the country’s dire situation. “Afghanistan and the international community are equally responsible, both for the gains and problems of the past seven years,” foreign ministry spokesman Ahmad Baheen said.

This included failure to stop an insurgency led by the Taliban, the country’s illegal drugs trade and corruption in government, he said.

“Afghanistan has been insisting for the past seven years on the existence of terrorist bases across the border, where they (militants) are being equipped, financed and recruited,” Baheen said.

“As long as these bases are not taken out, a victory is difficult,” he said, referring to calls by Mr Karzai for the US-led effort to focus on militant safe havens outside of Afghanistan.

Mr Baheen said the Afghan government was committed to establishing rule of law. However, its efforts were being undermined as “the international community, including some powerful Nato member countries, has their own favourite warlords” who they back against the Karzai government, he charged.

Corruption existed not only in the Afghan administration but also among international groups helping with reconstruction since the Taliban’s ouster, said Mr Baheen.

“Afghanistan’s government is committed to fighting corruption, but this is a long struggle and takes time,” he added, citing the trial of more than 700 officials allegedly involved in graft.

Mr Baheen also said that Afghanistan’s opium production was only high in places where international foreign forces were stationed, like the British troops in Helmand.

The country produces more than 90 per cent of the world’s opium, a raw ingredient of heroin, and multinational efforts to stop the production have made little headway.—AFP