Cameron at war

THE timing of America’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is symbolic. Having presided over the capture and execution of Osama bin Laden, it will further assist Barack Obama’s re-election chances if he can begin to end a war that began on his predecessor’s watch. Likewise, there are similar motives behind David Cameron’s desire to bring home every British soldier by 2015 – his deadline neatly coincides with the date of the next general election.

Yet, while Afghanistan has become an intractable conflict, it is imperative that any political motives do not take precedence over military considerations. The intended American cuts in manpower outstrip the entire British deployment and have the potential, unless properly managed, to leave UK service personnel at even greater risk.

On the day that David Cameron paid tribute to the three latest soldiers to make the ultimate sacrifice. including Craftsman Andrew Found from Whitby, the Prime Minister needs to start building bridges with the Armed Forces. His reassurance that the Libya conflict is being funded by the general reserve will reassure those who feared that the Ministry of Defence budget was being further compromised by Muammar Gaddafi’s defiance of Nato.

That said, it does not help when the Prime Minister makes unscripted remarks about a review of the Strategic Defence Review before telling the military top brass: “You do the fighting, I’ll do the talking.”

Downing Street, The White House and Nato need to be at one with the military – whether it be those troops fighting in Helmand Province or those fighter pilots dropping bombs on specific targets in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Having invested so much time, money and lives, it would be a betrayal of the fallen if long-term military advances were sacrificed in order to bring about short-term political gains.