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| Afghanistan | ||
| Cameron: begin troop withdrawal from Afghanistan now | ||
| 2011-05-13 | ||
| Following the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the Prime Minister is increasingly determined to start bringing the Afghan mission to an end. He has told defence chiefs he wants to start the withdrawal this summer, as the US begins to reduce its troop numbers. But British commanders have warned David Cameron that an early exit could jeopardise the counter-insurgency mission, allowing the Taliban to regain territory and popular support. As a compromise, defence chiefs have reluctantly drawn up plans to withdraw 450 of Britain's 10,000 troops from Afghanistan. Mr Cameron wants to agree their withdrawal with Barack Obama when he visits London later this month. The British troops could leave Afghanistan as soon as July, when the American withdrawal begins.
It is understood that the Ministry of Defence had hoped to keep the summer troop withdrawal down to around 200. But Mr Cameron and his officials put pressure on defence chiefs to go further. One senior Whitehall official said: "There is a very active conversation going on. On the one side there is the military concern about force density and continuing the mission, and on the other side is the PM's political imperative for some sort of announcement on draw-down." Mr Cameron has already said that Britain's combat mission in Afghanistan must end by 2014, in time for the next general election. A government source said that the killing of bin Laden had increased Mr Cameron's "sense of urgency" about ending the Afghan mission. "The bottom line is he wants out, and soon. And at the end of the day, he's the Prime Minister, so he'll get what he wants," said the source. "The worry is he's being driven by politics not strategy." British troops have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and 364 have died. Western commanders say they are just starting to make progress against the Taliban. Signalling doubts about an early exit, Gen Richards yesterday told the Commons defence committee that the operation should be given more time before decisions are taken on a withdrawal. He said: "At my level, we are very clear that the strategy is sound and we must give it the opportunity to succeed." In evidence to the committee, the heads of all three Armed Services admitted that their forces were "stretched" and "running hot" fighting wars in Afghanistan and Libya. An MoD spokesman said: "President Karzai announced in March that the first phase of security transition in Afghanistan has started. This begins the process of a gradual transition which will be completed across the country by the end of 2014. "As the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, and Chief of Defence Staff have said, troop reductions maybe possible in 2011 but no decisions have yet been taken. UK forces will no longer be in a combat role or in the present numbers in Afghanistan by 2015." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 PM CAMERON versus * DEFENCE/PK/FORUMS > US TO WITHDRAW 70,000 TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN IN THREE YEARS [circa by 2014 handover to Afghan Govt]. Mainly Combat Support troops + units - Grunts + espec SPECOPS to be last to leave. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-05-13 22:40 |
| #3 The reality is that it would take at least 50+ years of sustained footprint to initiate any real change in that country. We would go broke trying to do that. We need to get out. Bin Laden's death is a great excuse. Stupid to have any more young men die for that shithole. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2011-05-13 17:59 |
| #2 Yep. The fig leaf for the NATO 'allies' was to get Bennie in accordance with the 'an attack on one is an attack on all' premise of the charter. Bennie's dead now, the rationale is completed. Of course that 'simplistic' response is just the type they condemned the Americans for when they went home in 1919. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-05-13 12:31 |
| #1 The A'stan mission was never explicitly defined; the closest thing to a definition was 'get Binny.' He's been got. So re-define the mission or get out. Is it realistic to define it as 'build a free and prosperous A'stan?' Or even as 'eliminate the Taliban and government corruption?' I think not. Define it as 'monitor for and control AQ activity' and establish staff and operating plan for THAT mission, and it might make sense to stay in A'stan. Need to keep those drone-zaps coming (and going to Pakistan.) |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2011-05-13 08:01 |