No 'endgame' to Afghan war, says armed forces minister
Nov 11 2009 by Paul Bradley, Birmingham Mail
As the nation falls silent to remember the war dead, the Birmingham Mail today prints the pictures of the 20 Midland soldiers killed in Afghanistan and says to Gordon Brown: “Do not let their deaths be in vain”.
In this exclusive interview by PAUL BRADLEY, the minister for the armed forces, Bill Rammell, pays tribute to the men as “the pride of the nation” and promises to answer YOUR questions.
But he admits that the Government has no idea when troops will be withdrawn and insists that current Taliban terrorists could become part of Afghanistan’s peaceful future.
THE Government does not have an endgame to the war in Afghanistan, despite public opinion polls showing most people want Gordon Brown to bring our troops home.
Armed forces minister Bill Rammell said Britain would only withdraw its 9,000 troops when the Afghan army and police could be trusted.
He added that “individual members” of the Taliban should be allowed to play a part in the war-torn country’s future, as long as they promised to renounce violence and accept the Afghan constitution.
Mr Rammell said: “We will pull out of Afghanistan when we can confidently judge that the Afghan army and the Afghan police can provide security for themselves.
“I can’t give you an arbitrary timescale for this but we want to do this as quickly as we can.
“We emphatically do not want our troops in Afghanistan forever but that is not the same as saying they could leave safely tomorrow.”
He added: “You can’t win by military means alone. You also need a process of political reconciliation.
“I don’t think that will involve the leadership of the Taliban or the centre of Taliban.
“But if there are members of the Taliban who are prepared to protect the Afghan constitution, renounce violence and work with the elected government, then I think the Afghan government should seek to do that.
“That means individual members of the Taliban who are prepared to become part of the mainstream. We are not talking about a power sharing deal.”
He said it was wrong to act on the sole basis of current opinion polls as they would not reflect the opinions of the nation in the longer term.
When asked if the Government, the Ministry of Defence, or the British military had an internal plan or “end game” to get out of Afghanistan, he said: “No. It is dependant upon how quickly you can get there. There are all sorts of elements to that calculation that you don’t totally have control on.
