Britain sends new surge to Afghanistan
After president Trump announced his intention to increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan in a keynote policy speech last week which overturned campaign pledges to totally withdraw from the country as well as calling for NATO force increase in Afghanistan, Britain has spurted Trump`s request and ready to send more troops to Afghanistan.
After president Trump announced his intention to increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan in a keynote policy speech last week which overturned campaign pledges to totally withdraw from the country as well as calling for NATO force increase in Afghanistan, Britain has spurted Trump`s request and ready to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Britain must be prepared to support President Trump’s policy shift on Afghanistan as a matter of national security.
Britain official said: “We should respond positively to the President Trump’s request for us to contribute to an enhanced military presence to train and assist Afghan forces. He is pursuing a policy which is in our collective interest. And he is right to expect solidarity from key NATO allies. We should offer an increased UK contribution in line with our historic share of the Afghan mission.”
Currently the UK has 500, with an additional 85 to be sent shortly.
Writing for the Sunday Express today Sir Richard Stagg, British Ambassador in Kabul from 2012-15, says the UK must be prepared to send even more troops – a number “in line with our historic share of the Afghan mission” and we should be prepared to keep them for as long as it takes to ensure the country doesn’t revert to an “ungoverned space from which Daesh can thrive and threaten Britain.”
He added that Britain must also be prepared to tackle the issue of Pakistan which Trump said continued to “house the very terrorists we are fighting”.
“Safe havens in Pakistan have been critical to the Taliban’s ability to continue its insurgency,” said Sir Richard.
