Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence

Yes, I do. So that there can be no doubt or confusion, let me spell out in more detail the change in strategy that we hope President Obama will announce shortly—probably on Thursday. On the continuing and essential military approach, we have found the McChrystal review compelling. A counter-insurgency strategy that aims to give proper protection to Afghan citizens seems right, especially if that means a greater focus on the larger population centres. From the British perspective on troop numbers, I rather agree with the Prime Minister's approach—that we would be willing to provide a modest number of extra forces, albeit with conditions. His conditions also seem right, but I would add the proviso that there must also be the political surge for which many of us have been pressing for months.