Blair hints at help for Afghan army chiefs
Army chiefs in Afghanistan will be given everything they need to do their job, the prime minister has said.
Tony Blair today told senior MPs that contrary to newspaper reports he had not received any requests for more equipment from commanders.
He added that British troops in Afghanistan were doing a “vital” job in stopping the Taliban getting a foothold back in the country, and there had never been any doubt that the British army’s current mission would be dangerous.
In his bi-annual appearance before the liaison committee, the prime minister revealed that he expected the number of British troops in Iraq to fall the next 18 months.
He also urged the international community to step up its efforts for a resolution to the problems in Gaza, and called on Iran to respond to negotiations on its nuclear activities.
The government has come in for criticism in recent days over the role of the British army in Afghanistan following the deaths of five soldiers.
Army chiefs have reportedly been calling for additional resources to help them fight the Taliban, while opposition politicians have accused the government of giving misleading information about their mission.
This morning Mr Blair told senior MPs: “There has never been any doubt that when we moved down into the south into Helmand province it was going to be a lot more dangerous.”
He added: “The whole purpose of the mission is to support the reconstruction in Afghanistan and precisely to make sure that in the Helmand province, where many of the problems have arisen, that we are able to establish proper government there and give a livelihood to the local population that does not involve growing heroin.”
Put to him that taking away the livelihood of the poppy farmers would push them into the hands of the Taliban, Mr Blair said Britain alone was putting in $250 million into programmes of alternative livelihood.
On the reported calls for more resources, Mr Blair said he had not received any requests from commanders yet, but they were quite rightly assessing their needs.
“Anything they need and ask for in order to protect our troops they will get. Our obligation to them is to give them what they need to do the job.”
On Iraq, the prime minister said British troops would remain as long as the Iraqi government wanted them there, but he expected their numbers to reduce during the next 18 months.
“If they say to us we are better off without you, we will go,” he said.
Turning to Gaza, Mr Blair maintained there was “no more important issue to sort out than this”, and said the West currently paid “a very heavy price” in its relations with the Arab world for the situation in the Middle East.
Since there was an agreement on the “final outcome” between Israel and the Palestinian state, the prime minister said: “The international community has got to focus on this with a completely different order of magnitude.”
On Iran, Mr Blair said no deadline has been set for it to respond to the package of incentives to halt uranium enrichment, but he added that there was not much detail to consider and he would like an answer soon.
“It is a question of whether they are prepared to enter into a framework that allows them to develop civil nuclear power,” he said, adding that it would be a mistake for Tehran to think it could divide the international community.
