• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UK military chief cautions against early withdrawal from Afghanistan

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Nov 8, IRNA -- Britain’s new military chief Monday cast doubt on whether the UK would be able to start a limited withdrawal of its 10,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan next year, saying NATO will remain there for as long as it takes.

'We are in a demanding part of Afghanistan and therefore, inevitably, we're going to be shouldering the burden at least through next year,” the Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards said.

'The worst of all things would be to get out before we finish the job properly, for want of 1,000 trainers to keep them going for another couple of years,” Richards said.

Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that British troops will end combat operations in Afghanistan by 2015. After meeting US President Barack Obama in July, he suggested that a limited withdrawal could begin in 2011.

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, Richards warned that it was so important to establish in the minds of the Afghan people and those in the region that NATO is “not going to cut and run.”

'I'm absolutely clear. We really mean it when we say we will be there for as long as it takes,” he said. If the Afghans thought otherwise, why would they continue to fight and “why wouldn’t they succumb to Taliban pressure?' he rhetorically asked.

He also warned that the military was under pressure to make progress in Afghanistan, saying that “political patience and domestic opinion is only going to last so long.”

“If we lose this war it will be in the homes of this country, as people tire of it. What we've failed to do adequately is persuade the people of this country that this is a good war,” the Chief of Defence Staff said.

He agreed that it was important to have set the 2015 deadline because it focused attention. 'If we're fighting in four years' time like we are today, we've got it wrong - because we can't go on with this forever.”

Britain is the second largest contributor after the US to NATO-led coalition forces involved in the nine-year old war. It was revealed last week that the additional cost of the war to the government is set to exceed £ 30 billion.

The interview is the first by Richards since he formally replaced Sir Jock Stirrup last week. He was previously head of the army and former British commander in Afghanistan.

A major NATO summit is due to take place in Lisbon next week when a provisional timetable is expected to be drawn up for Afghans to take control of security across all 34 provinces.