Afghanistan withdrawal overplayed, says top UK commander

The most senior UK commander in Afghanistan has warned that the significance of the US-driven deadline of July next year for foreign troops to start pulling out has been exaggerated and that British soldiers will continue to be on the frontline with local security forces after that date. The July 2011 deadline was "an interesting milestone", Lieutenant General Nick Parker said. But speaking by videolink to journalists in London, he added: "I suspect there's some domestic politics in certain countries where it's been overstated." He continued: "My military advice is, we should be cautious. We should not in any way let the Afghans feel that we are not supporting them and allowing them to do what will remain a very challenging security task. This is a debate which we need to be very measured about." Parker said: "My military assessment is that we will still have numbers of our troops in advisory roles right on the frontline in positions of considerable peril, but right alongside their Afghan partners. "Is a July, summer 2011 deadline an over-optimistic target to have capable Afghan forces taking over the frontline from the coalition? This is a personal assessment – I don't believe it is. I think it is an entirely reasonable milestone target to give us. The big debate is then how many go home. I know that the military advice will be as few as possible. The military men will want to keep their options open as much as possible." Parker noted that some US commentators had said 2,000 American troops would leave Afghanistan next year. That, he suggested, was of no strategic significance given the 140,000 foreign troops in the country. British troops and Afghan forces were making progress in central Helmand although more slowly than suggested when Operation Moshtarak began in February, Parker said. However, he said that in the neighbouring Kandahar province, Taliban commanders were getting a "pretty serious kicking" and fighting in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city, traditionally a Taliban stronghold, was "pretty tough". US and British special forces have been fighting in the area for a number of weeks.