British troops could be in Afghanistan for decades

14 Jan, 2008, AFP:

British troops could be in Afghanistan for decades, the country's Defence Secretary Des Browne said in comments published Sunday.

Asked by The People weekly newspaper when Britain's soldiers would withdraw from Afghanistan, Browne said: "We cannot risk it again becoming an ungoverned training haven for terrorists who threaten the UK.

"But there is only so much our forces can achieve. The job can only be completed by the international community working with the Afghan government and its army.

"It is a commitment which could last decades, although it will reduce over time."

Browne's comments echo those of the head of the army, senior figures in the security services and former prime minister Tony Blair that the battle against Islamist extremism could last a generation ...

And why are we in Afghanistan? Because we are 'fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here'. All due to the flawed policy of hosting Muslims in the West. No Muslims, no problem. You can dance around it all you like, but 'decades' is spin for 'as soon as we leave, the Taliban will probably come storming back into power'. It's no fault of the troops, they've done a damn good job.

Time to turn it around: let's have some civilised containment/reversal of Muslim communities in the West, so we don't have to fight them FOREVER over there. But that's just TOO BIG A MISTAKE FOR ANYONE TO ADMIT.

Why could it 'last a generation'? Because by then the politicians will be dead and free from blame.