From Andrew Porter, the Telegraph: A Nato summit later this week will mark the beginning of the end of Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan, David Cameron said tonight.
The Prime Minister said combat forces would be out of the region in five years’ time.
In a speech in the City of London he claimed the Government was taking a more hardheaded approach to national security — starting with Afghanistan.
“I have said that our combat forces will be out of Afghanistan by 2015. And this week’s Nato summit in Lisbon is set to mark the starting point for passing responsibility for security progressively to Afghan forces,” he said.
Britain is still the second largest contributor to the Nato-led force with 10,000 troops. Mr Cameron said that most of those troops were in “the most difficult part of the country”.
He added: “We are not there to build a perfect democracy, still less a model society. We are there to help Afghans take control of their security and ensure that al-Qaeda can never again pose a threat to us from Afghan soil. A hard-headed, time-limited approach, based squarely on the national interest.” (photo: Reuters)
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