When General Petraeus called for a “united effort” on Afghanistan earlier, he might as well have been addressing our government. Between David Cameron’s
and Liam Fox’s recent statements, there’s a clear sense that the coalition is pulling in two separate
directions. And it’s left William Hague explaining our Afghan strategy thus, to the Times today:
This is fast becoming the coalition’s version of the previous Tory message on the Lisbon Treaty. It is has an internal logic to it, but it will also be seen, by many people, as too inconclusive. Will our troops be out of Afghanistan by 2015? Will they be there longer? The government is trying to answer both of these questions but, in doing so, is satisfying neither the hawks nor the doves.“‘The position on combat troops is as the Prime Minister set out last weekend. By the time of the next election, he hopes we won’t still be fighting on the ground. We are working towards the Afghan national security forces being able to stand on their own two feet by 2014,’ but there is ‘no strict or artificial timetable’. ‘Five years is a long way ahead. There is a lot more work to be done.’ But he won’t say that the British will leave last. ‘We can’t possibly know that at this stage. We are not competing with other countries to get out first.'”
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