Cameron: Army out of Afghanistan by 2015

Published on Friday 25 June 2010 23:22

DAVID Cameron has announced he wants to end Britain's involvement in the Afghanistan war before the next general election in 2015.

• Picture: Phil Wilkinson

His comments came ahead of a bilateral meeting today with US president Barack Obama on the fringes of the G8 summit in Muskoka, Canada, at which Afghanistan is expected to be high on the agenda.

Mr Obama has set out a timetable under which the "surge" of US troops he ordered last year would lead to withdrawals from the middle of 2011, but Mr Cameron has so far refused to commit himself to any deadline for British troops to come home, saying only that he does not believe they should stay a day longer than is necessary.

But asked yesterday whether the 10,000-strong deployment would be back home by the time of the next general election – scheduled for 2015 – the Prime Minister said: "I want that to happen, make no mistake about it.

"We can't be there for another five years, having been there for nine years already.

"But one thing we should be clear about – Britain should have a long-term relationship with Afghanistan, including helping to train their troops and their civil society, long after the vast bulk of troops have gone home."

Aides travelling with Mr Cameron made clear he was not setting a deadline or target for the withdrawal of UK troops, or committing himself to a timetable of any kind, which the UK regards as secondary to the development of conditions on the ground.

But his comments give an insight into the way he envisages events unfolding in Afghanistan and suggest he is keen not to go into the next election with an ongoing military presence in the country.

Discussing Mr Obama's preference for beginning a draw-down in about July next year, Mr Cameron said: "I prefer not to see it in strict timetables. I want us to roll up our sleeves and get on with delivering what will bring the success we want, which is not a perfect Afghanistan but some stability in Afghanistan and the ability for the Afghans themselves to run their country so they can come home."

His words will come as no surprise to many observers, who have noted the Prime Minister's lukewarm attitude to the conflict. Since entering Downing Street on 12 May, he has been dropping hints he wanted to end Britain's involvement in the war sooner rather than later.

The cost of the war in terms of money and lives is becoming increasingly hard for the government to justify, especially in a week when George Osborne presented his austerity Budget, Britain temporarily took operational command in Afghanistan and the UK death toll there passed 300.

Mr Cameron's statement yesterday also confirmed a change of strategy by the coalition government compared with the one pursued by Labour, which at times suggested British forces could be there for decades to come.

Mr Cameron has made it clear he sees the "surge" this year as the crucial action of the war, and he has insisted that it has to succeed. He has also stated that Britain is there only for reasons of national security, a change of tone from the moral and nation-building reasons put forward by previous Labour ministers.

The Prime Minister came close to setting a deadline for a withdrawal in a statement to the Commons on 14 June following his first trip to the war zone since taking office.

On that occasion, he pledged Britain would not be involved "a day longer than is necessary". He also suggested there had been a reduction in the threat to the UK from terrorists with links to the region.

In the same statement, Mr Cameron made it clear he would not add to the 10,000-strong British contingent stationed in Afghanistan, although he did find an extra 70 million to deal with roadside bombs.

He made it clear yesterday he did not want troops to leave the country before the job had been done properly.

He said: "One of the reasons we are in the difficulties we are is that, in the past, we walked away from countries like Afghanistan and, to an extent, from Pakistan and allowed them to become the badlands they became.

"So, let's get the conditions so the troops can come home but let's remember there should always be training missions, diplomatic missions and trade missions in Afghanistan as part of a very strong relationship".

In a separate interview, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the British troops could expect tough opposition from the Taleban over the coming months.

"It will be a difficult summer, there is no doubt about that", Mr Cameron said.

"But (that's] partly because we are doing so much more with the Americans in Helmand province, with hundreds of thousands of troops rather than the few thousand we used to have, and it's making a big difference.

"It will be a difficult summer, but we are getting to a period where parts of Afghanistan can now be run by the Afghans themselves. That is a very exciting prospect for bringing our troops home".

The Prime Minister's move yesterday puts pressure on the Obama administration in Washington, which has made the Afghan campaign the focal point of its "war on terror".

While Mr Obama has previously announced that he wants to start withdrawals next year, there have been some question marks over whether this will be possible.

Both Mr Obama and Mr Cameron are hoping Afghan commander General Stanley McChrystal's replacement, General David Petraeus, who successfully masterminded operations in Iraq, can help turn round the struggling surge and help bring the conflict to a speedy end.

But the relationship between the US and UK governments has been strained in recent weeks due to the row over BP and suggestions that Mr Obama's attack on the oil giant was partly motivated by anti-Britishness. There were also concerns about the effect of his remarks on UK pension funds that hold BP shares.

The two men will try to smooth over such difficulties in their first formal talks today.

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