The terrorist threat to Britain from Afghanistan has declined, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, as he promised to withdraw British troops from the country as soon as possible.
Mr Cameron made the statement about the al-Qaeda threat as Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, warned that the armed forces face cuts that will be ''ruthless and without sentiment''.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron said the government remained committed to the Afghan mission, but insisted British troops would not stay ''a day longer than is necessary''.
Ministers are keen to highlight what they say is the progress being made by the Afghan mission, to present any withdrawal of British troops as a sign of success, not failure.
In 2008, former prime minister Gordon Brown told MPs that three-quarters of all terrorist plots being monitored in the UK had a connection to the Afghan-Pakistan border area.
On Monday, Mr Cameron said: ''Today, I am advised that the threat from al-Qaeda from Afghanistan and Pakistan has reduced.'' Downing Street gave no more detail about the reduced threat, but Mr Cameron's spokesman said the reduction was ''significant''.
By: Brant
Its a sign of sanity.
ReplyDeletewhile that may be, at some point you have to sell the narrative to the public.
ReplyDeletemost of the US still thinks the US Army lost the Vietnam War, which isn't really all that accurate, any more than it's accurate that the Russians "lost" in Afghanistan... both fell after the departure of the foreign forces.
The US doesn't realize that when it enters a conflict it has to make a maximum effort or its just wasting US blood and money.
ReplyDeleteThe US didn't understand that the mission in Vietnam was to establish an effective government and security force.
The US military was given the responsibility to win in Vietnam, since it was a defeat, it became the scapegoat.