It is not the outcome John Reid had in mind when, as Defence Secretary in April 2006, he said Britain would be content to leave Afghanistan in three years without having fired a shot. Millions of bullets have been fired by British forces since then in a messy conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 100 servicemen and women. Far from leaving Afghanistan in 2009, British troop numbers will rise to a record high of more than 8000 next year. Withdrawal is simply not on the agenda, as was confirmed by Defence Secretary Des Browne's statement in the Commons yesterday.
It is not the outcome John Reid had in mind when, as Defence Secretary in April 2006, he said Britain would be content to leave Afghanistan in three years without having fired a shot. Millions of bullets have been fired by British forces since then in a messy conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 100 servicemen and women. Far from leaving Afghanistan in 2009, British troop numbers will rise to a record high of more than 8000 next year. Withdrawal is simply not on the agenda, as was confirmed by Defence Secretary Des Browne's statement in the Commons yesterday.
Some 630 new posts will be created for deployment in Afghanistan but the net increase will be limited to 230 as 400 administrative and support positions will go. The reorganisation will include extra troops to man additional Viking and Mastiff vehicles, more specialists in maintenance, reconnaisance, intelligence and translation services, more engineers and air defence being strengthened. If anything, roots are being put down for the long haul in environments that are hostile in more ways than one.
The purpose remains as was set out by Mr Reid: to protect the political and physical reconstruction of Afghanistan. This is proving to be grimly demanding, as was demonstrated by the arrival in Britain yesterday of the coffins of paratroopers killed in Afghanistan last week. It was difficult to square Mr Browne's assertion that the Taliban is losing the fight in southern Afghanistan with the mounting death toll, and the measures announced yesterday to contain it. According to Nato, the Taliban's growing resort to suicide attacks is a sign that the insurgents are weakening. Equally, it could be a demonstration that they are becoming smarter.
Either way, Mr Browne's statement is a welcome, if belated, vindication of those soldiers and commanders who have appealed for more air power and a greater number of reinforced vehicles to enable them to do their job at a reduced level of risk. In Afghanistan, danger is often round the corner and the task of stabilising and modernising the country will not be achieved until the insurgency has been made an irrelevancy. That is a long way off, as Mr Browne's statement implies. The military campaign against the Taliban is going reasonably well in parts of the country but in the poppy-growing south, where British and other Nato forces are engaged, the security threat is greatest and is likely to remain so as long as Afghanistan remains in essence a narco-state.
The redeployment announced yesterday will add to the pressure on British forces, whose commitments at present already cause overstretch and truncated periods between tours of duty. Many have died for a cause that is a long way off winning. Over what timeframe can they be expected to lay down their lives? It is an extending one, judging by Mr Browne's statement. We have a right to demand much more of an Afghan government bankrolled by the west yet corrupt, inefficient and weak. It, too, needs to be bold, brave and honest in endeavour.
