Obama Afghan move puts pressure on UK

David Cameron is facing more pressure to speed the drawdown of British forces from Afghanistan with the United States announcing details of its exit plan.

Last night President Barack Obama was expected to say that some 10,000 American troops would leave the country this year.

Half that number could go next month, and half in the winter.

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Mr Obama was also due to give an indication of when the other 20,000 personnel who were part of the “surge” strategy implemented in December 2009 would be withdrawn.

The path to ending the US’s fighting role by 2015 was being set out in a televised presidential address from the White House late last night.

Military commanders on both sides of the Atlantic have suggested that they want the timetable for extracting forces to be slower.

In an interview for a BBC Two documentary Afghanistan: War Without End?, Britain’s top soldier General Sir Peter Wall stressed that the Army was “committed” to the 2015 deadline for ceasing combat operations.

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But he added that “whether or not it turns out to be an absolute timeline or more conditions-based approach nearer the time, we shall find out”.

General Wall was also asked if he accepted that many of the “hearts and minds” of Afghan civilians had in fact been lost, instead of won over by the Army. He replied: “Undoubtedly. Yeah, undoubtedly. I accept that.”

He said he did not believe the Helmand mission had changed from the reconstruction plan set out by then Defence Secretary John Reid five years ago.

On the same programme, the Prime Minister insisted there would be no movement from the 2015 deadline. “The deadline is a deadline, and it won’t slip because I’m very clear that the British people deserve to have a clear end point,” he said.

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Mr Cameron has said that 450 British personnel will leave Afghanistan this summer, but there have been widespread calls for that number to be increased.

The premier’s spokesman confirmed there had been “conversations” with the US over Mr Obama’s address.

However, the spokesman added: “I wouldn’t expect an immediate announcement to follow from us.

“They are making an announcement on troop numbers which will be informed by their reading of conditions on the ground. Any decisions we make will obviously be informed by our judgments about conditions on the ground.”