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Tuesday 20 December 2011

Cameron signals further Afghanistan troop withdrawals in 2013


PM on dust-hit visit to troops says he wants to avoid 'massive cliff edge' in deployment in 2014
David Cameron speaks to RAF servicemen on a visit to Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan
David Cameron speaks to RAF servicemen on a visit to Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell
Britain will start to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in substantial numbers from 2013 after David Cameron declared that he wants to avoid a late rush ahead of the deadline for ending all UK combat operations in the country by the close of 2014.
On a pre-Christmas visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday, the prime minister indicated that an initial withdrawal of 500 British troops next year would be the start of a more rapid process in 2013.
The prime minister outlined his plans during a traditional pre-Christmas visit to British forces in Afghanistan which was severely disrupted by a dust storm. Cameron had to abandon a speech to British troops at Camp Bastion, the main British military base in Helmand province, after his RAF flight was diverted to the Nato base 100 miles away in Kandahar.
The prime minister, who met RAF Tornado crews at Kandahar at short notice, joked that he was not jinxed after his second visit to Afghanistan as prime minister was disrupted. Last year a helicopter carrying him had to be diverted after the Taliban intercepted British military communications.
"No I don't feel particularly jinxed," Cameron said after his C17 Globemaster transporter was diverted to Kandahar with a strict media blackout enforced, after a red alert for dust was declared at Camp Bastion. "I am very fortunate to have this extraordinary opportunity."
The prime minister praised British forces for making significant progress in stabilising southern Afghanistan over the last year as he reaffirmed his guarantee that British troops would no longer be involved in a combat role by the end of 2014. The British contribution to the "surge" – 500 troops – will be withdrawn next year, taking numbers down to 9,000.
Cameron said he would work closely with the US and other allies, particularly at a Nato summit in Chicago in May, on how to phase further withdrawals of troops in 2013 and 2014. But he made clear that Britain wanted to avoid a late rush to withdraw troops as the end of 2014 deadline approaches. This will mean speeding up withdrawals from 2013.
The prime minister, who discussed the progress in Helmand with President Hamid Karzai in a telephone call from Kandahar on Tuesday, said: "It is an ongoing conversation between allies about how exactly transition is progressing and what is the right way to reduce troop numbers between effectively 2012 and 2014. I don't want to see some massive cliff edge in 2014. I don't think that is practical. But I don't think we need to make hard and fast decisions right now about precise numbers – how many will be here in 2013 or 2014."
His remarks came after ministers on the national security council, who held a three-hour meeting on Afghanistan last week, stopped short of deciding on further withdrawal of troops beyond the 500 due to return home next year.
The prime minister said progress had been made in the three areas where Britain has responsibility in Helmand, as he outlined a timetable for "transitioning" responsibility for security to Afghan forces. In Lashkar Gah security was transitioning; in Nad Ali the transition would take place shortly; and in Nahr-e-Seraj it would take place before British combat troops leave.
"I am very clear that British troops won't be back-filling areas that others leave. We have the areas we are responsible for and we need to make sure they transition successfully. But the commitment that by the end of 2014 we won't be involved in a combat role or in anything like the numbers we are involved in now stands."
Nato's three-pronged strategy for Afghanistan – dubbed fight, build, talk by Hillary Clinton – is designed to ensure that free and fair elections can take place in 2014. Britain and the US hope that Afghan forces will be able to take charge of security by the time of the elections when Karzai is due to retire as president.
The prime minister covered the "talk" pillar with Karzai on Tuesday when they discussed reconciliation between the president's government and the Taliban.
Britain is involved in highly sensitive discussions to encourage members of the Taliban to join the political path. In a process which has echoes of the contacts with the IRA in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Britain and other countries involved in the Nato mission are examining confidence-building measures to show goodwill to the Taliban if they indicate they are serious about embarking on a political path. This could involve opening a Taliban representative office in Afghanistan or a Muslim country such as Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
Cameron said: "It is always a difficult process to have reconciliation between enemies. We saw that in Northern Ireland. We have seen that elsewhere in the world. But actually, I am confident there are quite a number of separate developments under way that give me some confidence a level of reconciliation is taking place. These have to be Afghan-led. President Karzai has recognised there are many people who take up arms under the umbrella of the Taliban who want to be part of a stable and secure Afghanistan. That is what reconciliation should be all about: getting them back into the fold through a political process. In the end you need that combination of success in terms of security and success in terms of reconciliation. It is a difficult issue to talk about."
The prime minister had wanted to use his speech at Camp Bastion to talk about his new military covenant pledge. Cameron had faced criticism for watering down a pre-election promise to make the covenant legally binding.
But the Armed Forces Act, passed last month, placed into law the principles of the covenant for the first time. The covenant is a commitment by the British people, through the government, to care for the country's serving and retired armed forces.
The first report on the covenant, published on Tuesday, acknowledges concerns among the armed forces at the spending cuts. "The cumulative effect of the pay freeze, changes to allowances and the prospect of pension reform continues to cause concern within the armed forces at a time when demands on them remain high," it says.
Cameron, who has been criticised for undermining morale by cutting troop numbers, acknowledged more work needed to be done. "There is always more to be done. We have gone a long way – getting it into law, the changes to council tax, the pupil premium. Some of them direct interventions by me, particularly the pupil premium."
The prime minister is establishing a new cabinet committee – the armed forces and veterans' committee – to monitor the implementation of the covenant.
Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/20/cameron-afghanistan-troop-withdrawals-2013?newsfeed=true

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