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'Afghanistan must be driven to victory'

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 02 December 2009

Despite the vital commitment of more troops, President Obama's speech was more concerned with ending the war than winning it, writes former commander of British forces Colonel Richard Kemp.

President Barack Obama (Getty)

Colonel Richard Kemp is the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan and author of Attack State Red, an account of combat operations in Afghanistan.

President Obama’s decision to deploy 30,000 more US troops is vital to Nato's success in Afghanistan.

This comes somewhere close to meeting General McChrystal’s force requirements. Significant further effort is now needed by US and UK leaders to press other nations to step up their own contributions - especially for combat duties and to assist in training the Afghan national security forces. 

But if a further push is needed the US and UK must also be prepared to deploy even more forces themselves. I have no doubt both nations have the capability to do so.

With these extra American troops we will now be able to seize the initiative and put the Taliban on the run. 

They will also be instrumental in the rapid build up of the Afghan army. In addition we need increased diplomatic efforts to improve the capability of the Afghan government, much more concerted economic redevelopment and reconstruction and, critically, an emphasis on splitting off those elements of the Taliban that can be persuaded to give up violent opposition to the government. 

All of these measures will enable Nato in due course to hand over the security situation to the Afghans themselves. 

While President Obama's decision reaffirms his personal commitment to the campaign in Afghanistan and is to be strongly welcomed, two issues sound alarm bells. 

First, the president appears to place heavy emphasis on timelines for withdrawal. He clearly calculates this is necessary for domestic consumption. I have no doubt that with the right amount of effort his timelines are achievable. They must also be tempered by conditions – particularly the state of the insurgency and the capability of the Afghan national security forces. 

But fixation on timelines carries dangers. 

Knowledge of our planned withdrawal dates can assist the enemy in shaping their own operational plans.  The Afghan people do not want foreign forces on their soil a moment longer than necessary - but we cannot gain or retain their confidence and support if they think we might withdraw prematurely leaving them at the mercy of the vicious Taliban.

Across the border in Pakistan the greatest concern of military commanders is equivocation in the West and a possible early withdrawal from the theatre. 

Secondly, President Obama’s speech seemed to focus more on ending the war rather than winning it. 

If British and American troops are to continue to make the extraordinary sacrifices that they have been making so far in Afghanistan it can only be towards the goal of victory over the Taliban.

Of course this cannot be achieved in Afghanistan alone.

The president touched on the vital necessity of cooperation with Pakistan. But what is really needed is a truly joint strategy between Nato and the Pakistan government. This should be one of our top priorities. 

With the resources in place it is now up to President Obama to ensure his strategy works.

He must prove himself to be an effective war leader by personally driving forward the campaign in Afghanistan to victory. Wars can only be won by determined leadership such as exhibited by Lloyd George and Clemenceau in the first world war and Roosevelt and Churchill in the second. 

Where this is not present, such as in Korea after the removal of General Macarthur and in Vietnam which suffered neglect by successive presidents, failure inevitably follows.

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