Brown sets 2011 deadline for turning tide against Taliban 28/01/2010 - 19:05:19
Gordon Brown set a deadline of the middle of next year for “turning the tide” against the Taliban today – suggesting that could be when British troops start coming home.
The British Prime Minister insisted the Nato campaign had to deliver swift results as a key conference in London agreed a process for giving the Afghan government responsibility for security.
The communique issued by the high-level gathering called for a gradual handover starting from the end of this year. Kabul should assume full control over security in the troubled country within five years, according to the document.
Kicking off the event this morning, Mr Brown admitted that 2009 had been “difficult” and there would be “more tough times ahead”.
“All our forces have made great sacrifices, with hundreds of lives lost and thousands of casualties sustained,” he told delegates. “In the last year Britain alone has suffered over 100 fatalities.
“But these sacrifices are not in vain – all the countries represented here recognise that this campaign is vital to our own national security, to the stability of this crucial region, and to the security of the world.”
The leaders – including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – set a target for Afghan security force numbers to top 300,000 by October 2011, complementing Nato’s military “surge” that will see around 135,000 troops on the ground.
The conference also pledged £140m (€161m) of funding for plans put forward by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reintegrate Taliban fighters who are prepared to renounce violence.
A ’loya jirga’ – or grand assembly of elders – is to be held in Afghanistan to try to bring more people into the effort to rebuild the country.
Mr Brown stressed the need for quick progress, stating: “By the middle of next year we have to turn the tide in the fight against the insurgency and also in our work to support the Afghan Government in winning the trust of its people.”
In a round of broadcast interviews after the conference, he went further when asked exactly when UK troops could start coming home.
“By the middle of next year we will have a number of provinces and districts that are ready to be transferred to the security control of the Afghanistan people,” he replied.
However, Mr Karzai struck a less optimistic note by saying that his country could need UK support for another 15 years.
However, Mr Karzai struck a less optimistic note by saying that his country could need UK support for another 15 years.
“With regard to training and equipping the Afghan security forces, five to 10 years would be sufficient,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “With regard to sustaining them ...the time period extends to 10 to 15 years.”
Speaking alongside Mr Brown on the conference platform, Mr Karzai said: “During the next two to three years we intend to focus on gradually assuming the responsibility for security in greater parts of our country.
“This will allow our international partners to eventually move their security forces out of the parts secured by our own forces while refocusing their efforts on better civilian (infrastructure), economic development and rebuilding Afghanistan.
“We will spare no effort or sacrifice to lead security of our country within the next five years all over Afghanistan.”
The communique urged Kabul to improve governance and crack down on corruption, as well as “learning lessons” from last year’s disputed presidential elections. There was also an agreement to extend debt relief for Afghanistan by £1.6bn – taking it to a total of £11bn.
The Afghan government should be “conducting the majority of operations in the insecure areas within three years, and taking responsibility for physical security within five years”, the document said.
The first provinces could be handed over by late 2010 or early 2011 “providing conditions are met”.
A further conference is due to be held in Kabul in the spring.
Mr Brown backed Mr Karzai’s plan to re-integrate former Taliban fighters, denying that any international funding would go to current insurgents.
“It’s only going to help people who have given up terrorism and are no threat to British troops at all,” he said.
The PM insisted there would be no compromise with al Qaida and other extremist groups who “perverted” the Islamic faith.
“We will defeat you and we will defeat you not just on the battlefield but in the hearts and minds of the people of this world, and particularly the people in Afghanistan,” he said. “We will defeat you in any and every country in which you take refuge.”
