Lindsey German interviewed: What to do about Afghanistan.

When historians look back at the end of the Afghan war surely 11 March 2012 will be marked as the day when it finally began to unravel, and when all but the most gung ho supporters of the carnage realised that the game was up.

The strategy of Afghanisation -- training Afghan soldiers and police to take over from the ISAF troops -- had already been stretched thin in the months beforehand.

The burning of the Koran by US troops was seen by many as the last straw, triggering demonstrations across the country and a number of assassinations of US troops.

The events of March 11 were even more shocking, however.

Sixteen people killed, nine of them children, by a supposedly lone gunman, a sergeant who was attached to Green Beret or Navy Seals Special Forces, who shot the victims in their beds and burned the bodies.

Afghans responded with outrage. Interviewed by the Independent newspaper a house painter in Kabul, Najibullah, said 'The Americans are not here to assist us they are here to kill us. I hate the Americans and I hate anyone who loves them, so I hope there is no long-term partnership between our countries.' The parliament condemned the killings and demanded the trial of the soldier in Afghanistan -- something to which the Americans will never agree.

The events were horrific in themselves but they symbolised a much wider malaise. The war is a disaster for Afghans. Civilian casualties are growing every year, despite the claims of the military. There up to 40 night raids on houses looking for suspected 'terrorists' every night -- raids hated by the local populations. Was this soldier involved in such night raids? The troops are backing a corrupt and venal government and claim there will be civil war if they leave.

The truth is they intervened on one side in a civil war a decade ago. Their initial success in overthrowing the Taliban was short-lived. Even the western governments acknowledge that they have to talk to the Taliban to end the war.

Recent events show that some forces are losing control of their troops. And the Afghans, as well as militarily resisting, are now taking to the streets in political protest. It is well past time to go and nearly everyone now knows it.

Obama and Cameron are meeting in Washington tomorrow. Whatever they say publicly, they will certainly be discussing whether they can bring forward the exit date, pencilled in for 2014 but already being widely questioned.

There can be little doubt that political, not humanitarian, reasons will guide their decision. The poet Siegfried Sassoon wrote of the First World War 'the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it.' That is true of this war too.

How many more Afghans will have died by then? How much more resentment will they have towards the western governments by then? And what exactly will have been achieved by eleven or twelve years of war?