AFGHANISTAN: Britain was not contemplating military withdrawal from Afghanistan until the task of removing the threat from Taliban and al-Qaeda forces was completed, the Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, said yesterday.
"Our exit strategy is that we will leave when the task is completed," Mr Hoon told MPs during an emergency Commons debate forced by the Conservatives on this week's announcement of the deployment of a further 1,700 troops to Afghanistan.
The military commitment was "open ended," he said, insisting it did not make sense to put a date on how long troops would be engaged in Afghanistan or precisely how many Taliban or al-Qaeda forces they would come up against. Any decision on withdrawing troops would be made "in the light of the circumstances on the ground," Mr Hoon added.
Addressing Conservative and Labour backbench reservations about the length and nature of Britain's enhanced military engagement, the Defence Secretary urged MPs to applaud the success of the military operations to date, "not to decry it as some have done." And he insisted it was merely "journalistic" speculation that Britain was preparing to back a US request to extend the war on terrorism to Iraq.
Backing the "principle" of deploying more troops, the shadow defence secretary, Mr Bernard Jenkin, said the Conservatives were nonetheless concerned about "mission creep" and over-extending British forces. At the same time, the former Labour defence minister, Mr Peter Kilfoyle, expressed concern that with British forces engaged in dual peacekeeping and combative roles they could "get bogged down in internicine warfare between Afghan warlords," undermining peacekeeping efforts.
At Prime Minister's Question Time, Mr Blair defended the new troop deployment, saying there was no "mismatch" between British forces carrying out both peacekeeping and combat roles. Mr Blair rejected a suggestion by the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, that defence chiefs had cautioned against a dual role, insisting military commanders fully supported the decision.
Reuters adds: The US military said Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters attacked coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan early yesterday, wounding one American soldier in a strike highlighting the dangers posed by a mobile, elusive enemy.