Downing Street Says » Afghanistan

The PMS was then asked whether the speech would refer to a timetable for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan to which he said that there was no intention to withdraw troops. Afghanisation was about working on the ground with Afghan troops and the Afghan police, building up local resources and ensuring that we would be in a position over time to feel confident, as the local people feel confident, that we could leave the country in the hands of the police and the Afghan armed forces. That is what we have always said about Afghanisation and the Prime Minister has already stated what he thinks is expected in terms of building up troop numbers.

The PMS was then asked about whether the Prime Minister had said Al Qaeda was on the back foot as a tactic to call for more troops. He replied that the international forces on the Afghan side of the border, and particularly in the South, had pushed the Al Qaeda leadership into the border areas of Pakistan with the existing resources and that the large scale offensive by the Pakistani army and the coalition strikes against Al Qaeda had all contributed to this success. The UK had committed to another 500 troops and the Prime Minister had been seeking to encourage ISAF partners to commit another 5000.

Asked about rumours that the 500 troops were due to by deployed this week, the PMS replied that it would be highly unlikely as there had been three conditions set – proper resourcing of the troops, ensuring the Afghan government is in a position to accommodate the troops and the state of play of the allies. The Prime Minister was encouraging other members of ISAF to commit troops. When asked whether there is a date by which troops must be sent, the PMS replied that there was not and that we would only want the troops to move out when those conditions were met. Obviously we would be keen for them to be met as quickly as possibly.

Asked whether the move have to be choreographed with The US, the PMS replied that it would not and that the only condition that was completely in our control was the resourcing of our troops. He said that there had been progress and it would appear as if we are moving in the direction of decisions being made from Washington and from our European allies. President Obama would be highly likely to commit more troops – it is just a question of how many – so we would like to be in a position where there would be an allied ISAF force where we could ideally move on to the next phase of the campaign together.

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» Monday, November 16, 2009

Afghanistan

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