AFGHANISTAN MCCHRYSTAL REPORT MUST FOCUS MINDS IN WHITEHALL AND WASHINGTON

AFGHANISTAN MCCHRYSTAL REPORT MUST FOCUS MINDS IN WHITEHALL AND WASHINGTON

ROBERTSON REPEATS CALLS FOR AFGHAN STRATEGIC RETHINK

SNP Westminster leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP has repeated calls for a rethink of UK strategy in Afghanistan as the top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, presents a report saying that the current military strategy is not working.

Mr Robertson, who visited forces on the frontline in Afghanistan earlier this year, has repeatedly called for a strategic review of operations and objectives.

Mr Robertson said:

“General McChrystal’s report must focus minds in Whitehall as well as Washington, and his admission that the current strategy is not working should have alarm bells ringing.

“We need a major rethink, and Ministers must convince us that they have a proper strategy and a proper objectives with the likelihood of success.

“The dreadful toll of military personnel killed in Afghanistan has understandably led to questions about just what our forces are fighting for.

“Military action is simply not enough and, perhaps most crucially, we need development, as the UK’s former ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, says the army has been "holding a wall up" in Helmand, but "no one has come along to build a buttress" of development.

“What is required is a major rethink that looks at all the options, and that will give people, not least our troops themselves, the confidence that the right strategy is being pursued and is achievable.”