Tory ministers head to Afghanistan
A trio of Conservative Cabinet ministers are in Afghanistan as Conservative Cabinet ministers make their first trip to the country.
William Hague, Liam Fox and Andrew Mitchell will spend today visiting Afghan president Hamid Karzai and ministerial colleagues in a bid to improve their understanding of the issues on the ground.
The trio remain committed to prosecuting the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, with little immediate indication of any dramatic shift in policy.
Defence secretary Dr Fox told the Times newspaper that “expectations and timelines” about troop withdrawal need to be “reset”, however, as he warned that Britain’s 10,000 service personnel in Afghanistan were unlikely to be increased further.
“We need to accept we are at the limit of numbers now and I would like the forces to come back as soon as possible,” he said.
During today’s visit the trio will meet British troops and civilian staff and visit a British-funded development project.
International development secretary Mr Mitchell said Afghanistan was an unusual case where the “moral commitment” to develop the country and safeguard Britain’s national interest were “enmeshed”.
But Dr Fox has repeated his rhetoric undermining the relevance of development efforts in Afghanistan.
He told the Times: “National security is the focus now. We are not a global policeman.
“We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened.”
Foreign secretary Mr Hague, who is leading the tripartite visit, will be looking to demonstrate the need for integrating defence and development priorities on the trip.
“Our most urgent priority is to get to grips with the situation in Afghanistan,” he said.
“It will consume a lot of our time, energy and effort and it is therefore vital that ministers have a strong understanding of the issues.
“We need to give the strategy time and support to succeed, and we are here in Afghanistan to explore this at the earliest opportunity.”
