Afghans question good of more U.S. troops

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Many Afghans say their government should negotiate with Taliban insurgents and question if more U.S. troops can help, interviews reveal.

Interviews by The New York Times with more than 30 Afghans in Kabul and in outlying areas revealed deep skepticism that the Taliban can be defeated militarily and indicated a desire that if more U.S. troops are sent, they should be used to train Afghan soldiers, the newspaper reported Saturday.

"What have the Americans done in eight years?" Abdullah Wasay, 60, told the Times. "Americans are saying that with their planes they can see an egg 18 kilometers away, so why can't they see the Taliban?"

"In the first days of the war, the Americans defeated the Taliban in just a few days," added Mohammed Shefi, a graduate student at Kabul University. "Now they have more than 60,000 forces and they cannot defeat them."

"Instead of increasing foreign troops, it's better to equip the Afghan National Army and the Afghan police," Zia Ahmet, a seller of tea kettles and pots, told the newspaper. "The local army are known in the villages, and they are more useful than foreign troops."