Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence

No, I am afraid that I have very little time. The operations of NATO and other coalition allies in Afghanistan are vital to the national security of the UK, to our allies and to international security more widely. When the Afghans are themselves able to defend the security of their people and deny the territory of Afghanistan as a base for terrorists, we will have succeeded and our troops can come home. At the moment, it is a tough fight, and the sacrifice has been significant. This year alone in Afghanistan, 98 UK troops have been killed, while the coalition as a whole has lost 481. These are brave and courageous people, every one. From the military point of view, we have taken essential steps in the right direction this summer. In the south, the spiritual home of the Taliban and the centre of the insurgency, the inflow of thousands of additional troops has enabled the Afghan Government to extend their authority around the main population centres. Try as the insurgents might, they failed significantly to disrupt the first Afghan-led elections. This is a measure of the progress that has been made, but the elections have proven to be messy, imperfect and drawn out. As the Foreign Secretary set out at the beginning of this debate, the commitment of President Karzai to reach out to his opponents to promote national reconciliation, to strengthen the Afghan security forces and to stamp down on corruption is now crucial. Last week, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary set out clearly the way ahead—building on the McChrystal report, setting out our political strategy and the essential steps required by the Afghan Government. The use of military force to bring security is a means and not an end. It will be the simultaneous application of politics, good government, and economic and infrastructure development that will consolidate success. We are competing for the support of the Afghan people, in every village, in every home and on every street. Only a comprehensive approach that marries security to governance—one that is people-centric and supports a robust political strategy—will meet our collective objectives in Afghanistan. That is why the new UK force level of 9,500 that we have set out in principle must be part of a wider commitment by the alliance on both strategy and delivery. Each member of NATO must at this crucial time consider the size of its commitment and revisit the role their troops are playing on the basis of a commonly agreed strategy. Clearly, the US, as the largest contributor, leads this process. The UK is stepping up efforts to persuade our European NATO allies collectively to pledge 5,000 more troops to operations in Afghanistan. I am confident that progress will be made and I look forward to each member of the coalition clarifying their commitment.