Britain's Continued Commitment
Britain’s new Prime Minister Gordon Brown called President Hamid Karzai this month to reiterate his country’s commitment to the fight against terror in Afghanistan.
Mr. Brown, assuring his country’s continuous support to Afghanistan, said Afghanistan’s security is the world’s security, and pledged more efforts in reconstruction. Britain has around 7,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, to rise to 7,700 in the coming months.
“This house has got to remember that Afghanistan is the front line against the Taliban,” the Prime Minister told Members of Parliament. “And if we allow Afghanistan to become a weaker country again, the Taliban will be back in a way that we saw before the events of September 11.”
London also has a new Ambassador to Kabul, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, who recently stated that Britain will support Afghanistan for many years to come.
"I've said the task of standing up a government of Afghanistan that is sustainable is going to take a very long time," he said. "It's a marathon rather than a sprint. We should be thinking in terms of decades." He added, "We're not [talking] about a long-term military presence but we are serious about a long-term development presence, because this country does matter to us and to the region in so many ways."
