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"Kabul, Italy’s pulling out in 2011," headlines La Repubblica. The death of four Italian soldiers, ambushed in the Afghan province of Farah, has rekindled the debate over the duration and terms of Italy’s involvement in the ISAF mission. The government is looking for a strategy to exit this increasingly unpopular conflict: according to La Repubblica, Silvio Berlusconi is currently negotiating with Washington the retreat of the Italian contingent in 2011 in exchange for the assignment of new instructors to whip the Afghan army into shape. Furthermore, the defence ministry has announced plans to arm Italian aircraft, hitherto confined to reconnaissance flights, with bombs so as better to defend the forces on the ground. That would constitute an umpteenth violation of the Italian constitution, which, points out La Stampa, proscribes the use of war as a “tool against the freedom of other peoples and as a means of resolving international controversies”.
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