‘No ifs, no buts’ on Afghan withdrawal
Ministers say the pace of withdrawing British soldiers from Afghanistan before 2015 will be determined by events on the ground, as US President Barack Obama announces a large-scale pullout of forces.
Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday his “deadline” of troop withdrawal from 2015 would only be made “where conditions on the ground allow”.
He said the recent surge in international troops and an increase in Afghan security forces had “revered the momentum of the insurgency”.
“We will keep UK force levels in Afghanistan under constant review,” he added.
“I have already said there will be no UK troops in combat roles in Afghanistan by 2015 and, where conditions on the ground allow, it is right that we bring troops home sooner.”
The prime minister has already said 400 soldiers will pull out of the country in the coming year, although the overall level will stay at 9,500.
According to reports, an assessment of troop numbers next month could lead to more British soldiers returning in 2011.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny the reports, but said several options were being reviewed.
David Cameron’s comments followed an announcement by US President Barack Obama who revealed he was ordering home 10,000 American personnel by the end of this year.
The 23,000 people deployed in the 2009 “surge” against the insurgency would withdraw by the end of next summer, the president said in a televised address.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy followed suit saying France would follow the same US timetable for pulling out its 4,000 troops.
Senior military figures welcomed the announcement but stressed military efforts must continue until the Afghan forces can take responsibility for themselves.
“But our collective military efforts need to continue until Afghan security forces are able to assume responsibility for security across Afghanistan by the end of 2014,” Chief of the defence staff General Sir David Richards said.
Withdrawing combat soldiers from Afghanistan is a significant move in the decade-long war against the insurgency.
Military chiefs ‘slapped-down’
Conservative MP James Arbuthnot – chairman of the Commons defence select committee – said President Obama was taking a “gamble” in going against military advice.
“White House officials have made quite clear that General Petraeus (the commander of US forces in Afghanistan) does not endorse this,” he said.
“David Cameron is right in saying that the surge has had a beneficial effect. The risk is whether it is being reduced too soon.”
Political Editor Gary Gibbon said that along with the US, the British withdrawal had echoes of election planning, despite fierce resistance from senior military figures.
“It’s quite well known that Team Obama before coming to office took the view that they would have to be withdrawing from Afghanistan by the time of the next presidential contest to have a decent chance of re-election (even if they’d surged in between),” Political Editor Gary Gibbon reported.
“It’s less well known that David Cameron and George Osborne had similar conversations before coming to office here.
“George Osborne formed the view that Afghanistan had to be receding from view by the time of the next election and he and David Cameron both believe that getting a fixed deadline for the withdrawal of British combat troops from Afghanistan, in the teeth of fierce resistance from senior military, is amongst their proudest achievements in office.
“There was a time when David Cameron himself used to say artificial deadlines for withdrawal – the old Lib Dem position – were unwise. That died some time ago. As William Hague said this morning, 2015 is a “no ifs or buts” deadline.”
Read more on the Politics Blog here.
Talking with the Taliban
Defence Secretary William Hague – who is on a three-day visit to Afghanistan – said the UK’s involvement would continue for “many years” after combat troops had withdrawn.
He also indicated that the UK was directly involved in talks being initiated with the Taliban.
Speaking from Kabul, Mr Hague reiterated that all UK military chiefs were aware of the “unequivocal” 2015 deadline.
“We have said that by 2015 British forces will not be engaged in combat in Afghanistan or in anything like the numbers that they are now,” he said.
“One of the conditions is that by 2015 we reach that point … I can tell you there are no ifs, no buts about that,” Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.