Hague: further UK sacrifice in Afghanistan
Updated on 01 July 2010
There will be further sacrifices of British troops in Afghanistan, foreign secretary William Hague tells Jon Snow after his first major policy speech in Brussels. Mr Hague also rejects his eurosceptic label in favour of "influencing" the EU.
The foreign secretary warned of a difficult few months ahead in Afghanistan, where more lives will be lost. Last month the campaign in Afghanistan suffered its bloodiest month on record – with at least 102 allied deaths during June.
"Is this the end of the sacrifice? Well, no it's not of course," Mr Hague said, adding: "It is going to be a difficult few months I think, coming up, because there is so much activity, there's such a lot going on to try to improve the security situation on the ground."
He said the escalating number of deaths was heartbreaking, "but we have to remember we are doing this for the security of our own country. We are doing it to the point where Afghans can look after their own affairs without presenting a danger to the rest of the world."
He said all the political parties are agreed on it and have "never played politics" with the UK's role in Afghanistan.
"It is something that is necessary for this country and if we didn’t think it was necessary for one month, we wouldn't be doing it."
Hague’s address to the FCO
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Mr Hague said the British government had been very supportive of the appointment of General David Petraeus as the new US commander in Afghanistan, who is "a very good replacement".
He added: "We've got a lot of confidence in General Petraeus…The campaign has not really missed a beat with a change of general because there is a well-established strategy and it's a strategy that we will continue to give the time and support to so that it can succeed."
However, Mr Hague ruled out speaking directly to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, in a bid to end the conflict.
More from Channel 4 News on Afghanistan:
- Patreaus to Nato: no change in strategy
- Head of British forces urges talks with the taliban
- Petreaus: expect more violence in Afghanistan
- Blair hails easing of Gaza blockade
- British servicemen repatriated to the UK
He said: "There's a process of reintegration and reconciliation that all involved in Afghanistan have agreed on. This does not mean that the British Army are going out tomorrow and talking to Mullah Omar. It means an Afghan-led process of reconciliation – we are absolutely clear there is no military-only solution in Afghanistan. The purpose of our military activity is to try to make a political process viable."
Hague also stressed that it was not a case of the Afghans talking to Mullah Omar alone. "It is not one man – there are many different aspects of the Taliban, many different people," he said.
General Pataeus to look at rules of engagement
Newly installed as US commander in Afghanistan, General Petraeus told Nato officials in Brussels he would not seek to alter the counterinsurgency strategy put in place by his predecessor – the ousted General McChrystal. He will instead focus on the rules of engagement – rules which are key to soldiers' morale
Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, told Channel 4 News that while many are impatient to see an end to the escalating violence and deaths in Afghanistan, Petraeus' speech would have been "well-received".
The general is right to stick to the same strategy, he said, adding: "You've got to hold your nerve in counterinsurgency – it takes time and can often get worse before it gets better."Petraeus was also previously McChrystal's boss, Col Kemp said, "Petraeus would have approved it (the strategy) himself, so it makes sense to keep it in place," Col Kemp said.
However, he pointed out that we may see changes in the tone and style of new the new four-star general.
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Gaza
Moving on the situation in Gaza, the foreign secretary said the British have been "highly active in saying to the Israelis: this is not sustainable, it is unacceptable, it's not in the interests of Israel – it's a blockade that actually makes Hamas better off."
He told Channel 4 News these are words that are leading to deeds. "The quartet representative Tony Blair - representative of the UN, the EU, Russia, the US - has agreed with the Israelis an easing of the blockade which I hope will be followed by further steps and so the pressure will continue from the UK."
More from Channel 4 News on the Gaza blockade:
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Mr Hague said he hoped it would lead to an improving situation in Gaza, leading to humanitarian aid and reconstruction.
There is a role for the European Union in policing crossings, he said, and there may be a larger role "which I am fully in favour of".
The problem is, he said, "Israel does not always want to do what the rest of the world may want to do. Israeli opinion is the other way round. We have to buttress and support what is a United States led Middle East peace protest and we have to join with our EU colleagues in placing the pressure on all involved – not just Israel, but on Palestinians to push this process forward.
"It is of course, alongside Afghanistan and the Iranian nuclear programme, these are the biggest immediate problems that we have to deal with and we’ll be working hard on them."
Hague the eurosceptic?
Mr Hague has long been seen as a eurosceptic, but in his speech today it seemed he had come full circle. Speaking to Jon Snow shortly after the speech, he said his reputation as a sceptic was just a characterisation.
"I've always said we should be playing a full part in the EU and influencing it. But the way to do that is not to join the euro, or to agree to every regulation, or to give more power from the UK to Brussels," he said.
"I've always wanted us to exercise our influence in Europe. We want British people in at the heart of things in the first place - when directives and regulations are being dreamt up from the beginning in the European Commission, there should be people with experience of British government and British business there," he said.
Hague on Europe
Britain will be working towards a foreign policy that is "clear, focused and effective," according to William Hague.
In his first major speech on foreign policy since the general election, the foreign secretary stressed the need for the UK to exploit its connections in what he repeatedly referred to as a "networked world".
"Today influence increasingly lies with networks of states," he said. He cited the EU as an example of a "changing network, where its members can make the most of what each country can bring to the table".
He went on to promise that Britain would aim to boost its influence within the EU by increasing the numbers of UK nationals in senior posts. The coalition would be "highly activist in our approach to the European Union".
Criticising Britain's "ad hoc" approach in recent years to the development and maintenance of relationships with other countries, Mr Hague said that even within the EU it was no longer sensible or possible just to focus on the larger countries.
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The programme of the coalition government, said Mr Hague, is not to give British power to Europe, and to ensure that any future government that does so has to hold a referendum of the British people.
In his speech today, Mr Hague cited the EU as an example of a "changing network, where its members can make the most of what each country can bring to the table".
More from Channel 4 News on Europe:
- Transformation in Hague's attitude to Europe
- Austerity Europe: where the axe falls
- David Cameron on the Lisbon treaty
He went on to promise that Britain would aim to boost its influence within the EU by increasing the numbers of UK nationals in senior posts. The coalition would be "highly activist in our approach to the European Union".
He then told Jon Snow: "So as you can see we have a government policy very much in line with what I’ve always advocated but we are in the EU and we must make sure we influence the EU. The last government was no where near as good at that as it pretended to be."
