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| David Cameron acknowledges 'high price' of Afghan war on arrival in Kabul | David Cameron acknowledges 'high price' of Afghan war on arrival in Kabul |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Cameron has arrived in Kabul to become the first world leader to meet the new but fragile Afghan government led jointly by Ashraf Ghani and his defeated opponent in the presidential race Abdullah Abdullah. | |
| It will be Cameron’s last visit to Afghanistan before all UK troops leave the country, ending a UK engagement that has lasted since 2001, brought 453 UK deaths and often been criticised as a strategic failure, not least by the outgoing Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. Kabul still falls victim of suicide bombings, and there is little sign that the Taliban have been pushed back from their strongholds, despite the years of fighting. | It will be Cameron’s last visit to Afghanistan before all UK troops leave the country, ending a UK engagement that has lasted since 2001, brought 453 UK deaths and often been criticised as a strategic failure, not least by the outgoing Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. Kabul still falls victim of suicide bombings, and there is little sign that the Taliban have been pushed back from their strongholds, despite the years of fighting. |
| The prime minister’s visit, though brief, is the start of a delicate process whereby Cameron, in deference to the lives lost and the reputation of the British army, will have to argue the mission was worthwhile and his country’s forces are leaving with dignity. | The prime minister’s visit, though brief, is the start of a delicate process whereby Cameron, in deference to the lives lost and the reputation of the British army, will have to argue the mission was worthwhile and his country’s forces are leaving with dignity. |
| After arriving in the Afghan capital, he said Britain had paid a “very high price” for its involvement in Afghanistan, but that the work had been vital and had left a country transformed. | After arriving in the Afghan capital, he said Britain had paid a “very high price” for its involvement in Afghanistan, but that the work had been vital and had left a country transformed. |
| He said Afghanistan had been the furnace in which al-Qaida had been formed and it had now been driven from its safe havens. | He said Afghanistan had been the furnace in which al-Qaida had been formed and it had now been driven from its safe havens. |
| “This was the place the 9/11 attacks were plotted from,” he said. “This is the place from where countless plots were planned. | “This was the place the 9/11 attacks were plotted from,” he said. “This is the place from where countless plots were planned. |
| “Al-Qaida and the training camps have been driven out. We are fighting a generational struggle against Islamic extremist terrorism. It had its original furnace here where al-Qaida was based.” | “Al-Qaida and the training camps have been driven out. We are fighting a generational struggle against Islamic extremist terrorism. It had its original furnace here where al-Qaida was based.” |
| He said at the point he became prime minister in 2010, nine out of 10 attacks planned in the streets of Britain derived from Afghanistan or Pakistan. This number had fallen to “somewhere near half”. | He said at the point he became prime minister in 2010, nine out of 10 attacks planned in the streets of Britain derived from Afghanistan or Pakistan. This number had fallen to “somewhere near half”. |
| He added: “The core UK mission was about our domestic security and that required an Afghan army and police force capable of taking care of their own security and not providing a safe haven to al-Qaida.” | He added: “The core UK mission was about our domestic security and that required an Afghan army and police force capable of taking care of their own security and not providing a safe haven to al-Qaida.” |
| He claimed significant progress in that regard, saying that in Helmand province alone, four Afghan brigades existed and across the country the 340,000 Afghan forces and police were leading 99% of all operations and 90% of all training | He claimed significant progress in that regard, saying that in Helmand province alone, four Afghan brigades existed and across the country the 340,000 Afghan forces and police were leading 99% of all operations and 90% of all training |
| “The promise I made in 2010 that Britain will be out of the country by 2014, that commitment has been met. That does not mean we are leaving this country to its devices. We have a huge aid programme that will continue and we will pay our share to the Afghan security forces.” | “The promise I made in 2010 that Britain will be out of the country by 2014, that commitment has been met. That does not mean we are leaving this country to its devices. We have a huge aid programme that will continue and we will pay our share to the Afghan security forces.” |
| It is Cameron’s eighth trip as prime minister, and has an elegiac quality, even though it is a conflict he inherited and never wholly embraced. Tony Blair, as Labour prime minister, joined the war launched by George Bush on the basis that the ungoverned space of Afghanistan harboured al-Qaida training camps responsible for the attack on the twin towers in New York. | It is Cameron’s eighth trip as prime minister, and has an elegiac quality, even though it is a conflict he inherited and never wholly embraced. Tony Blair, as Labour prime minister, joined the war launched by George Bush on the basis that the ungoverned space of Afghanistan harboured al-Qaida training camps responsible for the attack on the twin towers in New York. |
| Many political and military mistakes have now been acknowledged by retired senior British military officers and diplomats. | Many political and military mistakes have now been acknowledged by retired senior British military officers and diplomats. |
| In one of few recent causes for optimism in Kabul, the two presidential rivals last month agreed to serve alongside one another after a five-month impasse over the outcome of the ballot, claims that the run-off between the two candidates had been rigged, and a UN-supervised recount. The inauguration saw Ghani confirmed as president and Abdullah as chief executive, effectively prime minister in a post that has no status in the Afghan constitution. The deal was largely brokered by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and opens a way for 10,000 US troops to remain. | In one of few recent causes for optimism in Kabul, the two presidential rivals last month agreed to serve alongside one another after a five-month impasse over the outcome of the ballot, claims that the run-off between the two candidates had been rigged, and a UN-supervised recount. The inauguration saw Ghani confirmed as president and Abdullah as chief executive, effectively prime minister in a post that has no status in the Afghan constitution. The deal was largely brokered by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and opens a way for 10,000 US troops to remain. |
| Cameron disclosed in November he would stage a conference in London attended by the Afghan leadership to secure continued aid and support for the country. He added on Friday that if the Taliban wanted to have a democratic voice in the future of Afghanistan “then they must accept that they have to give up violence and engage in the political process” | Cameron disclosed in November he would stage a conference in London attended by the Afghan leadership to secure continued aid and support for the country. He added on Friday that if the Taliban wanted to have a democratic voice in the future of Afghanistan “then they must accept that they have to give up violence and engage in the political process” |
| Cameron was eager to seize on Ghani and Abdullah’s agreement to work in tandem, and the fact of a rare democratic transition, as a sign that Afghanistan need not slip back under the control of the Taliban as Nato troops withdraw. Ghani is a former World Bank official, and a technocrat that the west trusts. | Cameron was eager to seize on Ghani and Abdullah’s agreement to work in tandem, and the fact of a rare democratic transition, as a sign that Afghanistan need not slip back under the control of the Taliban as Nato troops withdraw. Ghani is a former World Bank official, and a technocrat that the west trusts. |
| He has already promised to clamp down on the endemic corruption, as well as the cultivation of opium poppy, which has reached record levels despite billions being spent trying to provide alternative crops. | He has already promised to clamp down on the endemic corruption, as well as the cultivation of opium poppy, which has reached record levels despite billions being spent trying to provide alternative crops. |
| Cameron is holding separate bilaterals with the two men as well as meeting them jointly to urge them to co-operate. He will promise a long-term UK commitment, including the training of an Afghan officer class, but nothing on the scale of the continued US investment. | Cameron is holding separate bilaterals with the two men as well as meeting them jointly to urge them to co-operate. He will promise a long-term UK commitment, including the training of an Afghan officer class, but nothing on the scale of the continued US investment. |
| Fighting is continuing in most Afghan provinces and the administration is bankrupt, with hardly enough cash to pay its 500,000 employees this month. It is looking for a multimillion-dollar bailout. This even though the man President Barack Obama appointed to oversee the US aid programme to Afghanistan, John Sopko, declared last month the US had provided more than $104bn to rebuild Afghanistan. That amount is more than the US has spent on reconstruction for any one country in history, and, once adjusted for inflation, the equivalent of what America poured into Europe in the post-second world war Marshall Plan. | Fighting is continuing in most Afghan provinces and the administration is bankrupt, with hardly enough cash to pay its 500,000 employees this month. It is looking for a multimillion-dollar bailout. This even though the man President Barack Obama appointed to oversee the US aid programme to Afghanistan, John Sopko, declared last month the US had provided more than $104bn to rebuild Afghanistan. That amount is more than the US has spent on reconstruction for any one country in history, and, once adjusted for inflation, the equivalent of what America poured into Europe in the post-second world war Marshall Plan. |
| The residual British force of 1,400 soldiers is due to leave Camp Bastion, the British military headquarters in Helmand province, by the end of the year as part of a total UK withdrawal. A further 1,600 troops are stationed in Kandahar and Kabul, and almost all will have left by the end of the year, ending Britain’s fourth war waged in Afghanistan in 175 years. | The residual British force of 1,400 soldiers is due to leave Camp Bastion, the British military headquarters in Helmand province, by the end of the year as part of a total UK withdrawal. A further 1,600 troops are stationed in Kandahar and Kabul, and almost all will have left by the end of the year, ending Britain’s fourth war waged in Afghanistan in 175 years. |
| Britain handed administrative control of Camp Bastion to the US in April this year, officially ending its eight-year combat mission in Helmand. A vast, sprawling complex, four miles long by two miles wide, Bastion is regarded as the biggest army infrastructure project since the second world war. At one point it it was home to 28,000 people, including US forces. | Britain handed administrative control of Camp Bastion to the US in April this year, officially ending its eight-year combat mission in Helmand. A vast, sprawling complex, four miles long by two miles wide, Bastion is regarded as the biggest army infrastructure project since the second world war. At one point it it was home to 28,000 people, including US forces. |
| At the peak, in Helmand alone there were 137 UK bases and around 9,500 UK troops. | At the peak, in Helmand alone there were 137 UK bases and around 9,500 UK troops. |
| Cameron has made the total removal of British troops from Afghanistan one of his chief foreign policy priorities, but refuses to describe the 10-year campaign by British forces as either futile or a failure, the terms used by the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, Rory Stewart. | Cameron has made the total removal of British troops from Afghanistan one of his chief foreign policy priorities, but refuses to describe the 10-year campaign by British forces as either futile or a failure, the terms used by the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, Rory Stewart. |
| The drawdown is a huge engineering feat. Britain has an estimated £4bn worth of equipment in Afghanistan, including 3,300 armoured vehicles, 50 aircraft and 5,500 standard shipping containers worth of items. | |
| To the fury of the British and Obama, Karzai, in the twilight of his presidency, became increasingly critical of the continued UK-US presence. He recently told the Sunday Times that “the US-led Nato mission in terms of bringing security has not been successful, particularly in Helmand”. | To the fury of the British and Obama, Karzai, in the twilight of his presidency, became increasingly critical of the continued UK-US presence. He recently told the Sunday Times that “the US-led Nato mission in terms of bringing security has not been successful, particularly in Helmand”. |
| Asked whether it would have been better if British troops had never gone there, Karzai replied: “I guess so. Yes. It was the bombardments and forceful entries into civilian homes and a lot more and actually in real terms the undermining of the Afghan government that caused us the trouble.” | Asked whether it would have been better if British troops had never gone there, Karzai replied: “I guess so. Yes. It was the bombardments and forceful entries into civilian homes and a lot more and actually in real terms the undermining of the Afghan government that caused us the trouble.” |
| He added: “What they did was to create pockets of wealth and a vast countryside of deprivation and anger that is exactly what they did and that’s exactly causing trouble.” | He added: “What they did was to create pockets of wealth and a vast countryside of deprivation and anger that is exactly what they did and that’s exactly causing trouble.” |
| The US under a bilateral security agreement signed with the new Afghan government will keep 10,000 troops in the country as a reserve ready to strike back against the Taliban. | The US under a bilateral security agreement signed with the new Afghan government will keep 10,000 troops in the country as a reserve ready to strike back against the Taliban. |
| The US military will have access to nine major land and airbases, to include the massive airfields at Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar, staging areas not only for air operations in Afghanistan but the US drone strikes that continue across the border in tribal Pakistan. | The US military will have access to nine major land and airbases, to include the massive airfields at Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar, staging areas not only for air operations in Afghanistan but the US drone strikes that continue across the border in tribal Pakistan. |
| The additional bases – in Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Helmand, Gardez and Shindand – ensure the reach of the US military throughout Afghanistan. | The additional bases – in Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Helmand, Gardez and Shindand – ensure the reach of the US military throughout Afghanistan. |
| Cameron has noticeably scaled down UK objectives in Afghanistan, playing down any suggestion of nation-building but Obama has continued to insist his goal is not just the destruction of the Taliban, but “the creation of a credible, effective and legitimate Afghan state”. | Cameron has noticeably scaled down UK objectives in Afghanistan, playing down any suggestion of nation-building but Obama has continued to insist his goal is not just the destruction of the Taliban, but “the creation of a credible, effective and legitimate Afghan state”. |