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Blair Deploys Ground Troops As Straw Calls for Rebuilding Afghanistan
LONDON, Oct 22, (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to expected to announce the deployment of British ground troops in Afghanistan before the onset of winter.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is also expected to call for a "global coalition" to rebuild Afghanistan, led by the United Nations and backed by the international community, news agencies reported.
As the U.S.-led bombing campaign continued alongside more covert ground operations, the prospect of sending British troops into Afghanistan drew nearer.
Downing Street said it was likely that the British contribution would be more than the support and refueling operations it has undertaken so far.
In the clearest signal yet of an imminent deployment, the Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said the Government was engaged in "detailed discussions" with the U.S. over the use of "overt" ground forces.
The Prime Minister is believed to have spoken Sunday to President George W. Bush by phone and chaired a meeting of the War Cabinet at Downing Street this morning.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Sunday that the progress of military operations over the weekend demonstrated that the campaign is very clearly on track.
"The strategy is clear and it is working. In the first instance, air power has been used to damage Taliban defenses, installations, and hitting the al Qa'eda network itself - making the ground more conducive to other operations," he said.
Asked how Blair would prepare Britons for the prospect of casualties, Blair's spokesman added, "We will be completely straight with the British people about the action that we are taking as this unfolds.
"We believe it is right. We have to make the case to the British people. The British people know why we are doing this. Every effort is made to keep this to an absolute minimum."
Blair's spokesman further refused to comment on whether the SAS had been involved in the special forces operations, said
The Independent.
Many British MPs, mainly from the ruling Labor Party, have expressed their anxiety about the continuing U.S.-led military strikes on Afghanistan.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency quoted Labor MP Gwyneth Dunwoody, as saying there was "deep unease" among the British public.
"People will support this intervention as long as it is short, clearly defensible and they know the end of it," she said.
Former British defense minister Doug Henderson warned that the government "must demonstrate that the action is necessary and is leading to something else," Iranian state run IRNA news Agency reported.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was today expected to give a speech on the future of Afghanistan before traveling to Washington on Tuesday to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Straw was expected to call for a "global coalition" to allegedly "rebuild" Afghanistan, led by the United Nations and backed by the international community, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The West is paying the price for turning its back on Afghanistan, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was expected to say.
Straw warned of the threat so-called "failed states" like Afghanistan pose to the world, saying the global coalition needs to work out a "robust plan" to rebuild that country it has already devastated.
"We [need] a clear set of plans agreed internationally under the auspices of the United Nations for the future of Afghanistan," Straw was set to say in a speech on the future of Afghanistan later on Monday at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.
Straw's speech, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, warns that unless there is a U.N. plan, "there is a much greater chance that once the Taliban have been removed, the area could then drift back into the kind of chaos which frankly we have seen in the relatively recent past when the international community... has backed one of the factions in Afghanistan and walked away far too soon."
The Foreign Secretary's speech says the international coalition should consider how Afghanistan could be rebuilt if the ruling Taliban are ousted, and work toward four key principles.
These, AFP said, are that the future of Afghanistan should be "in the hands of the people of Afghanistan themselves" while a global coalition rebuilds the war-devastated country; that the U.N. should take the lead in this; and that the international coalition should make a long-term commitment.
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