WASHINGTON, June 27 (UPI) -- CIA Director Leon Panetta expressed doubt the Taliban or other insurgent groups will give up their al-Qaida allegiance to reconcile with Afghan's government.
"We have seen no evidence that they are truly interested in reconciliation, where they would surrender their arms, where they would denounce al-Qaida, where they would really try to become part of that society," Panetta said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
"We've seen no evidence of that and very frankly, my view is that with regards to reconciliation, unless they're convinced that the United States is going to win and that they're going to be defeated, I think it's very difficult to proceed with a reconciliation that's going to be meaningful."
Panetta's comments came in response to questions about a report in The New York Times last week in which Pakistani officials were quoted as saying they could bring al-Qaida ally Sirajuddin Haqqani into a power-sharing agreement with Afghanistan's government.
"But," Panetta said, "the bottom line is that we really have not seen any firm intelligence that there's a real interest among the Taliban, the militant allies of al-Qaida, al-Qaida itself, the Haqqanis, (Pakistani Taliban group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), other militant groups."
Nearing the end of June, what is already the deadliest month for U.S. troops, with 52 killed, Panetta acknowledged a tough fight.
"It's harder, it's slower, than I think anyone anticipated," he said, adding violence has been on the rise in Kandahar and in Helmand provinces.
"There are some serious problems here. We're dealing with a tribal society. We're dealing with a country that has problems with governance, problems with corruption, problems with narcotics trafficking, problems with a Taliban insurgency."
But he defended U.S. Afghan strategy, saying it had helped reduce al-Qaida's presence to perhaps as few as 50-100 members in the country.
Panetta noted the United States and NATO are preparing to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan by the end of August -- more than enough military strength, he said.
Ultimately, he said, the key to success will be Afghanistan's ability to maintain a stable government, army and police force.
