Cancel the London Afghanistan Conference
Daniel Korski 5:14pm
In a few weeks time, a slew of foreign ministers will descend on London to attend a conference on Afghanistan. No.10 will use the event to sell Gordon Brown as a statesman, confidently dealing with the nation’s threats. The Conservatives, in turn, will probably try to score the usual points about Britain’s failure, alongside its NATO allies, to make any in-roads in the fight against the Taliban. Together with Tony Blair’s evidence to the Iraq Inquiry, the conference may create one of the few moments in the drawn-out election campaign when the three party leaders stop talking about the NHS and focus on national security issues instead.
Too bad, then, that the conference will be a waste of time and should be cancelled forthwith – not least to save the taxpayers the million pound sum the event will cost. Dreamt up by Gordon Brown and Angela Merkel, the event was meant to represent a moment of post-election reckoning, a time when the international community held President Karzai to a number of benchmarks – on anti-corruption, development, security hand-over etc. Unfortunately, it looks like the wily Karzai has outmanoeuvred the international coalition once more.
By getting most of his Cabinet nominees rejected by Parliament, Karzai can now safely arrive in London, tell everyone that he would love to cooperate but without a ministerial team there is no point in setting any benchmarks. As the Afghan expert Thomas Rutting notes, “heads of state and government of the donor countries will sit around that large table and will not have anything to measure.” In truth, Karzai has secured all the ministerial posts he needs to govern – defence, finance, interior and agriculture. The rest are just for show. But it will not look that way – and the event will do little.
Perhaps for this reason, but certainly because of the continuing storm over the deadly air strike near Kunduz (which led to the resignation of a German minister and the dismissal of a top general), Merkel seems lukewarm on the London event. Her foreign minister even threatened to boycott the London conference if it focuses exclusively on troop numbers.
The best strategy would be to postpone the event until later in the year, when President Karzai will have no excuse to avoid benchmarking his performance, and the first batch of US troops, as part of the surge, has begun arriving.
Previous
Jez
January 7th, 2010 6:12pm Report this commentWhy are we in Afghanistan?
TomTom
January 7th, 2010 7:01pm Report this commentMerkel can do whatever Westerwelle wants over this Conference. Her Government is corroding so fast as the CSU and FDP peel off from her directionless managerialism.
Merkel will one day have to lead her party, but so far she has failed miserably so to do
Norman Dee
January 7th, 2010 7:15pm Report this commentCome on Jez we know why we are in Afghanistan. The problem is there are 2 distinctly different "fields of engagement", the military, and the political. We know the military is in good hands, but look who's running the political side !!!
Chuck Unsworth
January 7th, 2010 7:16pm Report this commentWhat are its aims? What are the chances of it having the slightest effect on the numbers of daily deaths and injuries?
This is Brown showboating on the coffins.
Austin Barry
January 7th, 2010 7:35pm Report this commentBrown's relentless drive to be deemed a Global Statesman is absurd. How many more of our troops have to die to support his vanity and self-promotion?
TGF UKIP
January 7th, 2010 7:41pm Report this comment7.35 pm - are the house mag hacks going to have the balls and refer to and comment on The Mekon's arrest and £80 fine for "disorder" at the Tory Conference in Birmingham (see channel4.com). Or is silence on all matters concerning The Mekon going to remain the order of the day at the Speccie.
First David Ross and now Steve Hilton, what a rum lot Dave consorts with. No wonder ordinary law abiding folk don't relate to him and his exotics.
Sir Graphus
January 7th, 2010 8:22pm Report this commentWhy is Merkel there? Germany only provides a catering corps, after all.
Tanuki
January 7th, 2010 8:59pm Report this commentGordo could play this conference to his advantage: impose a 'Ridiculous Hats and Beards levy' of £100,000 per attendee. It'd make a small but nevertheless significant contribution to paying off the national debt.
Sajid Khan
January 7th, 2010 9:12pm Report this commentBritain nows its own history such as 1839 when a successful invasion & occupation of Afghanistan ended with a total defeat when all the Indus Army was annhilated bar a lone medic. Do the English need to behave like football hooligans - but in uniform?!
Don
January 7th, 2010 9:33pm Report this commentTGF UKIP, you genuinely believe that an 80 pounds fixed penalty notice from 2008 is newsworthy?
If so I think that the theft of allowances by members of UKIP in the European Parliment is a much bigger story. Care to make some mention of that?
Rum lot you UKIPPERS.
strapworld
January 7th, 2010 10:13pm Report this commentDon. Two wrongs do not make a right!
Hilton should be sacked, he is a disgrace. Ukip (and I hold no respect for this shoddy party) did sack those MEP's! Unlike Cameron who let the majority stand again!¬!
Cameron is proving he is no leader day by day!
Don
January 7th, 2010 11:49pm Report this commentSeems strange that the kipper fraternity on here only really want to discuss issues with the tory party. When old duffers take over and effectively say they wanted to kill off the kippers not a lot of comment. When kippers steal taxpayer money not a lot of comment. Strange no?
wonkotsane
January 8th, 2010 7:22am Report this commentDon, which UKIP MEP has stolen allowances. Do tell. You're not talking about the former UKIP MEP who was expelled from the party after admitting that he was under investigation for benefit fraud which he didn't declare prior to being selected for the MEP list and which the police didn't turn up when they did the checks on him before he was selected and which has nothing to do with allowances?
And it's pretty impossible to steal allowances as it's a lump sum paid to every MEP whether or not they wants it or spend it. Bit hard to steal something that's given to you.
But I'm sure you'll have something to back up your accusation of theft otherwise what you wrote would be libel and I'm sure you wouldn't have done something that silly would you?
Verityred
January 8th, 2010 9:28am Report this commentThere is a small group on this site hell bent in attacking Cameron (usually in a rather giveaway spiteful and tediously stuck record kind of of way). They are made up of creaking, smelly old Tories whose days are dwindling, Kippers with bulging eyes and The Daily Mail inserted where their brain should be, and a Labour troll or two (whose frequent attack line on several sites is to pose as Thatcherite Tory/Kipper).
Nothing wrong with having issues with Cameron and his lot, nothing wrong with being a UKIP fan if thats what you believe, but these headbangers are pathetic, whatever their reasons for polluting blogs. Labour trolls have to live with themselves.
Naomi Muse
January 8th, 2010 9:46am Report this commentBroon, a legend in his own mind, likes hosting conferences. Such activity lets him do what he likes to do best:
Grandstanding and
Spending other people's money with impunity
Time he had a reality check but that is likely to illude him as it has to date.
The London Afghanistan conference should be cancelled. It was the first indication of diary dates that gave an inkling that Broon will really go to June after seeing the appalling first quarter of 2010 figures.
Nicholas
January 8th, 2010 11:09am Report this commentTGF compare and contrast Hilton's 2008 spot-tax levy for speaking in rough language to one of New Labour's Armed Wing to Gauleiter Prescott getting away with actually assaulting a member of the public engaged in the admirable, community-spirited act of throwing a well-deserved egg at him. No prosecution, no fine and the egg wasn't even rotten.
All poltical animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
Then ponder the question why this 2008 story has suddenly emerged at the beginning of 2010 during a week of bad news for The Monster. When the discordant, shambolic band on New Labour's bandwagon play the tune don't be so hasty to dance to it. They deserve more rotten eggs not more publicity.
Nicholas
January 8th, 2010 11:20am Report this commentWatch it Verityred - I'm a "creaking, smelly old Tory whose days are dwindling" and have been attempting to stick up for Cameron on these year pages. Don't know about the Kipper with the bulging eyes though - you'll have to ask my girlfriend. And I don't read the Daily Mail.
I hope your rude attack on the Tory Suicide Corps gets as much flak for being abusive as mine did!
Verityred
January 8th, 2010 12:37pm Report this commentNicholas -
' Tory Suicide Squad'. Very good, sums up the loons perfectly.
Good to see you are of the older generation but are still perfectly in possession of all your marbles Sir!
As for drawing flak, they do get rather nasty and hot under the collar when someone sticks it to them, as you have seen yourself.
Viv Evans
January 8th, 2010 1:07pm Report this comment"The Conservatives, in turn, will probably try to score the usual points about Britain’s failure, alongside its NATO allies, to make any in-roads in the fight against the Taliban."
Why is it that NuLav (sic!) never ever 'tries to score points' when attacking the Tories, regardless which policy they attack - but proper and well evidenced criticism, when coming from the Tories, is point-scoring?
Couldn't be due to a certain political bias, could it?
Verity
January 9th, 2010 1:10am Report this commentDon, like many others, you have assumed that TGF UKIP is a member of that party. This individual, after all, could be grateful for the destabilizing influence of UKIP, which is how I read his/her posts.
And actually, I think a fixed penalty fine is of interest when applied to a man who seeks to be a puppet-master. Yes. I think it’s noteworthy. As TGI UKIP - uh - notes himself/herself.
And Harriet Harm-men gets little publicity for her penalties for driving while using a cell phone and for parking illegally and having cause a crash. The Stazi are now embedded in Britain, and only a few of us noticed the march through our civil institutions and our ancient society. Destroyed in a decade!
How over-confident were we? And how easily defeated from within?
John Richardson
January 9th, 2010 12:33pm Report this comment....flak....abusive...er, well I suppose that would be me then.
Right.
'Verityred'
In a short post, you use, in roughly descending order : small group : spiteful ; tedious ; creaking ; smelly ; old ; a fish based insult I do not understand, but is most likely horrid ; brainless (implied) ; lying Labour supporter ; headbanger ; pathetic ; causing pollution.
You then return to claim 'they' become angry when challenged.
I struggle sometimes to discern exactly what is jokey, scurrilous or serious.
'Postings' being a limited medium. I suppose I must assume your contribution to be wholly serious.
I hope I am in part wrong.
How can you imagine that you can 'insult some sense into' those you disagree with ?
This seems wildly optimistic at best.
Is that what blogs are for ?
We are not 'a group' of any kind.
On another thread, I thought it was apparent that 'Nicholas' and I made some real progress based upon an assumption that
-both wanted the best for GB
-both based their analysis of the current situation on an honest appraisal of complex issues, and an appreciation of who the real enemy is (.....not 'The People's Front of Judea' but Socialism)
-Cameron is untried, untested and somewhat unclear. Perhaps necessarily. Therefore to be certain about 'his' Government at this stage would be foolish at best.
I would say that it must be true that some anti Cameron 'elements' do prefer the 'excellent' to the 'good'. This would condemn them to perpetual opposition & cocoon them in ideological purity. While Rome burns. (Though I must add I cannot readily identify such sentiments on 'The Sp.' blogs)
I wonder if you are able to imagine a world where both political parties of a major Nation are infected with the same corrosive , 'progressive', multicultural and 'distributive' poison ?
Both infested with a parasitic political class ?
Can you see that it might suit one wing to hand over Office, at the moment 'financial chickens' were about to start roosting ?
Thus implicating the entire Party Political System in National Bankruptcy ?
Only them, with other (party) political options eclipsed and ignored, could the final National dissolution be achieved.
Achieved; as the bulk of conservative, patrioticaly minded people, had bought into the Party duopoly.
Why not explain why I am wrong to utterly distrust Cameron ?
Why not explain why Ladbrokes will not take bets on a hung Parliament, when those in Office are obviously incompetent, dishonest and possibly unbalanced ?
Provide as many insults as you wish as long as you can be confident your argument is not obscured.
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'Nicholas'
I would be interested to read your responses to two recent articles. If you can find the time to read them.
1) Gerald Warner 6th Jan "'Climate Science' is an...." 'The Daily Telegraph'
2) Patrick O'Flynn 6th Jan. 'Daily Express'
"Middle Britain:No-one to stand up for them". I had dismissed O'Flynn as an unintelligent, and possibly duplicitous, hopeless Cameron supporter. He probably still supports Cameron, but that's some background from my perspective.
Regards.
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