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Afghanistan
No timeframe for Afghan withdrawal: UK
2010-06-28
LONDON - It is hard to set a timeframe for a withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan, the head of Britain's army said on Sunday, days after Prime Minister David Cameron said he wanted troops home within five years.
I want a pony. Wouldn't it be lovely if we all got what we wanted?
General Richard Dannatt said it was important to exert 'maximum pressure' on the Taleban so they were not able simply to sit out the time until international forces left the country.
Indeed.
The army chief, who once disagreed with former prime minister Gordon Brown on the issue of helicopter numbers, refused to be drawn on whether Cameron's comments were unhelpful.

'I'm not going to say that,' he said.

'I think time is a factor, there are many factors,' he told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme. 'From now on, and we've been doing it for the last little while, we must put maximum pressure on to succeed so that the Taleban don't have that sort of option to say we'll sit them out for five years, 10 years or whatever.'
What an intelligent man the army chief is!
Dannatt said the key factor determining when British troops could come home was pace with which Afghan security forces were able to take over their duties.

'When that happens, that's when we'll get to the crossover and our own troops will be able to start reducing and then start to come home. Whether that happens in three, five or seven years I think is difficult to tell.'

Dannatt said it was important Britain's military effort in Afghanistan had adequate resources and political support. 'What's got to be remembered is these complex and difficult counter-insurgency campaigns always take time,' he said.
Posted by:Steve White

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