British envoy says mission in Afghanistan is doomed, according to leaked memo

Britain’s Ambassador to Afghanistan has stoked opposition to the allied operation there by reportedly saying that the campaign against the Taleban insurgents would fail and that the best hope was to install an acceptable dictator in Kabul.

According to the French cable, he said that the only realistic outlook for Afghanistan would be the installation of “an acceptable dictator” within five or ten years and that public opinion should be primed for this. British insiders said that the Ambassador never uttered these words. “The trouble with the British Ambassador is that he is always at the high end of gloom and doom when in fact it’s not that bad,” a diplomatic source said.