Afghanistan: West must remain a partner to Afghanistan, says Gen McChrystal --- Retired Gen Stanley McChrystal stressed the country must not be left alone, or could fall back into civil war -- Afghanistan should accept the West's help after the withdrawl of troops in order to avoid a return to its civil war days, the American general who led Nato troops there has said. -- Gen Stanley McChrystal said the US and the Britian should continue to have some role in the country beyond the end of the year. -- "They must know we are reliable long-term partners," he said. "They must now they won't be on their own". -- The retired general told the BBC that while he did not think that the Taliban had the strength to take over all of country, however a civil war could erupt as different groups vying for power. -- When asked about whether the country's security situation had improved over the last decade he said: "The ability of a nation to defend itself is partly in the number of the security forces it has but it is also in the fabric and sinew of its society and the confidence of its people," he said. -- "I think that would be the part that I would worry most about - that eroding confidence would cause people not to join the army, not to join the police, not to support local government - that would be the most dangerous scenario." -- He also said of that the US should continue its drone programme and increase the number of strikes. -- However, while the general said that while they were "effective tools", they can also "create a tremendous amount of resentment" - with a perception of helpless people being shot at by thunderbolts from an omniscient and omnipotent entity.