Berlin, Jan 29, IRNA — Some 76 percent of Germans believe that the new strategy in Afghanistan will fail, according to an opinion poll released Friday by the public television network ZDF.
Only 18 percent of those questioned think that the NATO-led mission will ultimately succeed, while six percent had no opinion on the issue.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of respondents said that they opposed dispatching additional soldiers to north Afghanistan, where German troops are
deployed as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel outlined her new much-anticipated Afghanistan strategic concept which includes sending up to 850 additional soldiers and doubling development aid to the war-stricken country.
Germany had faced tremendous pressure by its key NATO allies, among them the US and Britain, to send more troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency.
Merkel announced also plans to increase the number army and police instructors.
Meanwhile, Berlin is to double its development and reconstruction aid to Afghanistan.
Germany would now allocate around 430 million euros until 2013 to improve
infrastructure, education and job opportunities.
“Without reconstruction, we cannot have security,” Merkel said.
Furthermore, the German government is to earmark 10 million euros every year for a Taliban-reintegration program.
Previous attempts by the Afghan government to negotiate with the Taliban, in a bid to entice more moderate elements to drop their guns, encountered major difficulties because they offered little protection or financial incentives.
Critics of the present initiative, too, question whether Taliban fighters will want to switch sides when they believe they are on the verge of a victory.
However, proponents believe the jobs, vocational training, and other incentives that would be offered will make the latest plan more enticing.