UK 'pulling its weight' in Afghanistan

Tuesday, 19 February 2008 2:00 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

Defence secretary John Hutton has rejected claims Britain is not pulling its weight in Afghanistan, following US calls for greater international commitment to the conflict.

"I do not think that is fair, nor do I think that reflects the real view in the Pentagon and elsewhere," he told the Financial Times.

"There is a very high level of regard for the contribution that UK forces have made in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The United States says it wants further commitment from its allies to the war in Afghanistan after announcing the deployment of 17,000 more of its troops.

A day after Barack Obama announced the extra troops to combat a "resurgent" Taliban, the country's top commander in the region General David McKiernan has warned of the "tough year" ahead.

En route to Krakow, Poland, for two days of informal talks with defence ministers before a full-blown Nato summit, defence secretary Robert Gates doubted whether Washington's allies would match its own commitment in Afghanistan.

"I think the likelihood of getting the allies to commit significant numbers of additional troops is not very great," he said.

"To give credit where credit is due, the allies have increased the number of non-U.S. troops by about 15,000 over the last year or so.

"The question is whether additional commitments beyond that can be made, and I think there will be some, but I don't think they will be big numbers."

Mr Gates suggested that Nato members did not have to deploy only combat troops, but personnel who could help train the Afghan national army and lead anti-heroin and anti-corruption programmes.

Shadow UK defence secretary Liam Fox said: "We welcome the announcement of an increase in the number of US troops in Afghanistan.

"Of course, any large influx of American troops into Helmand province will change the dynamic of operations there and the Government needs to make clear what command relationship will exist between British and American forces operating in the region.

"If any increase in British troops were to be made, the government must make sure that any new commitments are matched with appropriate resources, as well as a proper political strategy."

There are currently 38,000 US troops in Afghanistan, with 41 other coalition partners committing 31,500 soldiers to the war against the Taliban, 9,000 of which are British.

There have been 629 fatalities among the US military and 385 coalition losses, including 145 British troops.

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