PM: UK troops may start leaving Afghanistan in 2011
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British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday that British troops could start pulling out from Afghanistan next year.
In an interview with the BBC in Washington after meeting U.S. President Barack Obama, Cameron said that British troops could begin to be pulled out of Afghanistan in 2011 but added that "it should be based on conditions on the ground."
He said that the withdrawal was dependent on Afghan ability to control provinces. "The faster we can transition provinces and districts to Afghan control, the faster some forces can be brought home. That transition should be based on how well the security situation is progressing," he said.
"We are not going to be there in five years time, 2015, with combat troops or large numbers. I think it's important to give people an end date," he added. "I hope that with the strategy that we have, with the build up of the Afghan army, with the transition of districts and provinces it will be possible to bring some troops home."
Cameron said this echoed the policy of President Obama who will start to bring American troops home in 2011.
Cameron's line was reinforced in the House of Commons on Wednesday where Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats who are the junior partner in the coalition government with Cameron's Conservative party, said "The prime minister has been clear, we have been clear we do not wish to see British troops in a combat role by 2015.
"No timetable can be chiseled in stone but given our length of time in Afghanistan we must be out by 2015. We will see our troops withdrawn from a combat role by 2015."
Clegg also asserted that a political agreement was vital to secure the stable conditions in Afghanistan necessary for troops to leave. "History teaches us insurgencies cannot be defeated by military means alone, which is why we are pushing hard for a political strategy and reconciliation," he said.
This would leave the door open for talks with the Taliban, an idea floated by the next professional head of the British armed forces General Sir David Richards last month when he said: "There's always been a point at which you start to negotiate with each other". General Richards stressed it was a "private view" but added there was "no reason why we shouldn't be looking at that sort of thing pretty soon."
