Afghan Militias Will Attack Taliban

Desperate to push back the Taliban in Afghanistan, NATO military commanders agreed on Wednesday to support the establishment of local defense forces which would be used in remote areas to stop attacks. The decision points to anger over the slow pace at which a more permanent security force is taking shape. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had been against the program, saying that he thought the groups could turn into militias that would resist government control. A Pentagon official called the forces “a temporary solution to a very real, near-term problem.”