nastyleg
11-06-2009, 03:32 PM
PM reasserts UK's commitment to Afghanistan
A Defence Policy and Business news article
6 Nov 09
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reaffirmed the UK's commitment to the campaign in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Afghanistan
During a speech at the Royal College of Defence Studies today, Friday 6 November 2009, Mr Brown said the main terrorist threat facing the UK still emanates from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that in the last decade, in hundreds of attacks across the world, Al-Qaeda and those associated or inspired by them have killed thousands. He continued:
"This is a reality all the world has witnessed, in New York, Bali, Baghdad, Madrid, Mumbai, Rawalpindi, and of course right here on the streets of London.
"So when people ask why we are in Afghanistan, why are over forty countries there with troops on the ground, I ask them to look at this list of terrible atrocities, and I ask them to remember that in Britain alone since 2001 more than 200 people have been convicted of planning terrorist plots, plots that were prevented by the vigilance of our security forces.
"We all face the same threat; we all agree on the need to take action to meet that threat. We must all agree on the strategy to meet it and the resources necessary to carry out that strategy."
The Prime Minister said that Britain has consistently shouldered its fair share of this burden and more, but when the main terrorist threat facing Britain emanates from Afghanistan and Pakistan 'our mission must not fail':
Major Nick Clarke observing Afghan soldiers in training
"It is not easy; the choices are not simple. There is no strategy that is without danger and risk. But that is the responsibility of leadership, of government, and of our Armed Forces: to do what is necessary, however difficult, to keep the British people safe.
"We cannot, must not and will not walk away."
Mr Brown said that while investment in our borders and our domestic counter-terrorism capability is vital, investment at home of itself cannot insulate us entirely from the new terrorist threat we face:
"Only by tackling this threat at source can we prevent it reaching our shores, and it is the combined effort of our Armed Forces, police, security services, border agency, and other agencies both at home and abroad which are our best protection against further attack."
Mr Brown said the Taliban's original plan in southern Afghanistan was to defeat coalition forces through conventional warfare but that this had failed:
"The Taliban's hope now is that even if they cannot win outright, through asymmetric warfare, through intimidating the population and through preventing economic progress, they can undermine morale and erode public support back home, and persuade us to give up before the Afghan people get to see the benefits of legitimate governance, or share in the benefits of greater prosperity.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Afghanistan
"So our strategy has moved from straightforward counter-terrorism to more complex counter-insurgency: protecting the people, helping the government win their support, and providing them with a stake in the future."
He said progress is not to be measured in enemies killed or battles won alone; it must be measured in the progress made each season in improving the capability of the Afghans to protect themselves, in improving the quality of life of Afghan citizens, and by improving the governance of Afghanistan. This, he said, will slowly but surely make it more and more difficult for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to rebuild their bases in Afghanistan and the wider region:
"The truth is, as we have always been clear, that we have not chosen the path of training and mentoring the Afghan forces because it is an easier or safer alternative - often it may be the opposite - but because it is the right strategy.
"The Taliban and others who seek to undermine the work our forces are doing will not divert us from that strategy."
The Prime Minister said four hundred British servicemen and women are already dedicated to mentoring the Afghan Army and over 100 are dedicated to mentoring the Afghan Police, working together with British and European specialist police trainers:
"We will not give up this strategy of mentoring," the Prime Minister asserted.
Vikings of the Royal Tank Regiment
"It is what distinguishes a liberating army from an army of occupation: not an army in opposition to local Afghan people, but an army supporting local Afghan people.
"And this approach of Afghanisation that we recommended more than a year ago is now the strategy of the whole coalition."
The Prime Minister laid out five tests for improvement in the new Afghan Government in the areas of security, governance, reconciliation, economic development and relations with its neighbours:
"The first priority of any government is to provide security for its people," Mr Brown said.
"It is not sustainable to subcontract that task indefinitely to the international community. So the expansion and training of the Afghan Army and Police must be the new Government's first priority."
Soldiers from The Light Dragoons Battle Group
Mr Brown said that the international community is there to help the Afghan Government to deliver against these five tests; stronger international co-ordination is crucial as well as clearer metrics to measure progress.
However, he added that if the Afghan Government fails to meet these five tests, it will have not only failed its own people, it will have forfeited its right to international support.
The Prime Minister concluded by saying Britain will have succeeded when our troops are coming home because the Afghans are providing security themselves, continuing the essential work that we have started of denying the territory of Afghanistan as a base for terrorists:
"The right strategy - for Britain and for the international community as a whole - is the one that enables the Afghans to take over from international forces sooner, at a higher level of capability, and with a greater level of assurance that the pressure on Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups will be maintained, so that a safer, more stable and better-governed Afghanistan will contribute to a safer Britain and a safer world."
A Defence Policy and Business news article
6 Nov 09
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has reaffirmed the UK's commitment to the campaign in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Afghanistan
During a speech at the Royal College of Defence Studies today, Friday 6 November 2009, Mr Brown said the main terrorist threat facing the UK still emanates from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that in the last decade, in hundreds of attacks across the world, Al-Qaeda and those associated or inspired by them have killed thousands. He continued:
"This is a reality all the world has witnessed, in New York, Bali, Baghdad, Madrid, Mumbai, Rawalpindi, and of course right here on the streets of London.
"So when people ask why we are in Afghanistan, why are over forty countries there with troops on the ground, I ask them to look at this list of terrible atrocities, and I ask them to remember that in Britain alone since 2001 more than 200 people have been convicted of planning terrorist plots, plots that were prevented by the vigilance of our security forces.
"We all face the same threat; we all agree on the need to take action to meet that threat. We must all agree on the strategy to meet it and the resources necessary to carry out that strategy."
The Prime Minister said that Britain has consistently shouldered its fair share of this burden and more, but when the main terrorist threat facing Britain emanates from Afghanistan and Pakistan 'our mission must not fail':
Major Nick Clarke observing Afghan soldiers in training
"It is not easy; the choices are not simple. There is no strategy that is without danger and risk. But that is the responsibility of leadership, of government, and of our Armed Forces: to do what is necessary, however difficult, to keep the British people safe.
"We cannot, must not and will not walk away."
Mr Brown said that while investment in our borders and our domestic counter-terrorism capability is vital, investment at home of itself cannot insulate us entirely from the new terrorist threat we face:
"Only by tackling this threat at source can we prevent it reaching our shores, and it is the combined effort of our Armed Forces, police, security services, border agency, and other agencies both at home and abroad which are our best protection against further attack."
Mr Brown said the Taliban's original plan in southern Afghanistan was to defeat coalition forces through conventional warfare but that this had failed:
"The Taliban's hope now is that even if they cannot win outright, through asymmetric warfare, through intimidating the population and through preventing economic progress, they can undermine morale and erode public support back home, and persuade us to give up before the Afghan people get to see the benefits of legitimate governance, or share in the benefits of greater prosperity.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Afghanistan
"So our strategy has moved from straightforward counter-terrorism to more complex counter-insurgency: protecting the people, helping the government win their support, and providing them with a stake in the future."
He said progress is not to be measured in enemies killed or battles won alone; it must be measured in the progress made each season in improving the capability of the Afghans to protect themselves, in improving the quality of life of Afghan citizens, and by improving the governance of Afghanistan. This, he said, will slowly but surely make it more and more difficult for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to rebuild their bases in Afghanistan and the wider region:
"The truth is, as we have always been clear, that we have not chosen the path of training and mentoring the Afghan forces because it is an easier or safer alternative - often it may be the opposite - but because it is the right strategy.
"The Taliban and others who seek to undermine the work our forces are doing will not divert us from that strategy."
The Prime Minister said four hundred British servicemen and women are already dedicated to mentoring the Afghan Army and over 100 are dedicated to mentoring the Afghan Police, working together with British and European specialist police trainers:
"We will not give up this strategy of mentoring," the Prime Minister asserted.
Vikings of the Royal Tank Regiment
"It is what distinguishes a liberating army from an army of occupation: not an army in opposition to local Afghan people, but an army supporting local Afghan people.
"And this approach of Afghanisation that we recommended more than a year ago is now the strategy of the whole coalition."
The Prime Minister laid out five tests for improvement in the new Afghan Government in the areas of security, governance, reconciliation, economic development and relations with its neighbours:
"The first priority of any government is to provide security for its people," Mr Brown said.
"It is not sustainable to subcontract that task indefinitely to the international community. So the expansion and training of the Afghan Army and Police must be the new Government's first priority."
Soldiers from The Light Dragoons Battle Group
Mr Brown said that the international community is there to help the Afghan Government to deliver against these five tests; stronger international co-ordination is crucial as well as clearer metrics to measure progress.
However, he added that if the Afghan Government fails to meet these five tests, it will have not only failed its own people, it will have forfeited its right to international support.
The Prime Minister concluded by saying Britain will have succeeded when our troops are coming home because the Afghans are providing security themselves, continuing the essential work that we have started of denying the territory of Afghanistan as a base for terrorists:
"The right strategy - for Britain and for the international community as a whole - is the one that enables the Afghans to take over from international forces sooner, at a higher level of capability, and with a greater level of assurance that the pressure on Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups will be maintained, so that a safer, more stable and better-governed Afghanistan will contribute to a safer Britain and a safer world."