PM Urges More Nato Troops for Afghanistan

Gordon Brown yesterday amplified Nato calls for more combat troops in Afghanistan to spread a burden currently being borne by UK, US and Canadian forces, but the chief of defense staff warned that the country's problems could only be resolved by political, not military, means.

Echoing concerns expressed by General Dan McNeill, commander of the Nato-led international force in the country, the prime minister called for greater "burden-sharing" in Afghanistan. Speaking after talks in London with President Hamid Karzai, he added: "We are all determined that Afghanistan should never become a failed state again, and to support the democracy that's been created in that country."

He went on to say that the long-term solutions were "not simply defense and security", a point increasingly being made by frustrated British military chiefs.

"There is a common misperception that the issues in Afghanistan can be dealt with by military means", said Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of the defense staff, yesterday. "That's a false perception ... by and large these problems can only be resolved politically."

He warned in an interview with Sky News that bringing Afghanistan into the 21st century would engage the international community for decades, and reflected a growing emphasis on reconciliation by saying there was a need to talk to people who "may well have been Taliban in the past".

Britain has some 7,700 troops in southern Afghanistan and its military commanders say they are making progress against the Taliban. However, they warn of the dangers of losing ground unless civil aid and development agencies come in to provide sustainable progress.