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Brown insists Obama is committed to troops surge in Afghanistan
Joe Murphy, Political Editor13 Nov 2009
Barack Obama is ready to back plans for a troops surge to Afghanistan, Gordon Brown predicted today.
The Prime Minister said he was “pretty sure” that America will announce a plan similar to the McChrystal recommendations for a 40,000-strong surge.
“I have talked to President Obama,” said Mr Brown. “I am satisfied that the strategy I outlined several weeks ago ... is very much in line with what President Obama wants to achieve.”
That strategy was to deploy more troops to speed up the training of Afghan forces so that they could take over the fight against the Taliban.
Leaks from Washington suggested that President Obama has rejected the main surge plan by troops commander General Stanley McChrystal because it failed to spell out an exit strategy.
The president's ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, is also opposing a surge, claiming it could make Afghans more dependent on America.
But Mr Brown said: “In every country, in this country, there is a legitimate debate about strategy and about tactics but I am pretty sure that what President Obama wants to do is very much in line with the counter-insurgency proposals of General McChrystal.”
The Prime Minister's words will calm nerves after leaks of bitter divisions in the White House war cabinet. At the same time, Mr Brown sent ministers and diplomats to ask 10 other Nato allies to provide 5,000 troops.
“We need our other Nato allies to help,” he said. Germany was the only country to respond immediately — but it only offered 100 extra troops. Britain has set a lead by pledging 500.
Mr Brown believes a surge would speed up the return home of British forces by enabling some districts to be handed over to local Afghan army commanders, starting next June.
A key adviser to Nato members has warned that President Obama risks a Suez-style debacle if he fails to deploy enough extra troops. David Kilcullen said: “You either commit to D-Day and invade the continent or you get Suez. Half-measures end up with Suez.”
Britain is urging the Afghans to foster splits in the Taliban by giving moderate commanders and footsoldiers formal roles in the running of their country in return for renouncing violence.
A leaked memo showed diplomats urging president Hamid Karzai to weaken his enemies with a “combination of military pressure and clear signals that the option of an honourable exit from the fight exists”.
“Putting in place the right combination of carrot and stick, at the right moment, will be critical to changing the calculations of individual commanders and their men,” states the memo, which was leaked to a Kabul newspaper.
Some 300 MPs from Nato countries are gathering in Edinburgh for a conference this weekend, with Afghanistan top of the agenda.
