Downing Street Says » Afghanistan

» Friday, November 27, 2009

Afghanistan

Asked whether the PMS would agree with the way the Prime Minister’s comments had been characterised as endorsing the McChrystal view of how policy should change in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was very keen that Afghanistan should be discussed as part of the CHOGM talks. A number of the Commonwealth countries were also our NATO partners.

The Prime Minister had made clear what his views were in terms of our strategy in Afghanistan and the leadership he had been taking in terms of how we progressed that and how our NATO partners should be working to provide a greater share of the burden.

Put that the Prime Minister’s comments were very much along the lines of what McChrystal had been saying and was that because he endorsed the McChrystal strategy, the PMS said that the words of the Prime Minister had been quite clear:

What I want to emphasise in the days before every country makes thier announcements was the need to compliment our military strategy with our political strategy, the need to not just have a military push in Afghanistan but a political push and the need therefore for a comprehensive approach to both Afghanistan and Pakistan as we moved forward with a strategy to deal with the risk of al Qaida, and also to deal with the threat of the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan.

Asked if she thought that was an endorsement of what McChrystal had said, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made it clear that there should be a political strategy as well as a military strategy. It was up to President Karzai to appoint the members of his Cabinet and follow through with his promises of ending corruption and creating an Afghanistan that met the demands of the people.

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