Afghanistan 'not war without end'
Updated on 17 November 2009
Foreign Secretary David Miliband outlines a new political strategy for Afganistan, proposing that the Afghan people should be given a route back to a peaceful life.
Speaking at the same Nato conference in Edinburgh, the Nato secretary general urged member states to send more troops to Afghanistan and backed the British view that a district-by-district handover of security to Afghan forces could begin next year.
And that year, 2010, is likely to begin with an international conference in London on the future of Afghanistan.
Nato says they need a surge of troops in the short term to counter insurgency, but reinforced the prime minister's claim in his Guildhall speech last night that a gradual handover of control to Afghans could see Nato soldiers start to come home.
The prime minister has proposed an international conference in London on the future of Afghanistan in January. It is not an "exit" summit but the move is intended shore up public support for the war as an election year starts.
Nato Secretary General Anders Rasmussen mounted a defence of operations in the region during an address to the organisation's parliamentary assembly.
He said Afghanistan is the "number one priority" and added: "I want to use this opportunity to strongly encourage you and your governments to make more military resources available.
"Extra combat forces for Isaf (International Security Assistance Force), extra troops for enhanced partnerships and teaming with the Afghan national security forces.
"And extra troops for training, particularly through the Nato training mission in Afghanistan."
"Don't make any mistake. We will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to finish our job - but that is, of course, not forever," he added.
Nigel Adderley, of the Institute for Strategic Studies, told Channel 4 News: "The outline plan for British troops is quite clear, that we wish to hand over as soon as possible to the ANA (Afghan National Army) to assume proper control of their own country."
"It's very important that we hand over to the ANA a stabilised country to enable us to let them get on with what they need to do and enable us to withdraw in a controlled manner."
He rejected the view that recent comments by UK politicians would be seen as a sign of weakness in Afghanistan - "especially as we are increasing our troop levels, as will be the Americans".
And he predicted the Barack Obama would announce a military surge in Afghanistan numbering less than the 40,000 troops proposed by General Stanley McChrystal - "somewhere between approaching 30,000".
The series of speeches comes as the Ministry of Defence named a territorial army soldier who was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday. Rifleman Andrew Ian Fentiman, 23, of 7th Battalion The Rifles, who was from Cambridgeshire, died after coming under fire while on a foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand Province.
