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Afghanistan: UK Forces

My Lords, I agree absolutely that we learn the lessons of history, but it is important that we pay attention to the fact that this is a completely different strategic situation. The role of our forces in Afghanistan, as part of a coalition force, is to support the democratically elected Afghan Government, assisting them in the reconstruction of the country's democratic process of governance and helping the development of aid within the country. We must recognise the significant need within that country for aid and how important it is for us to provide such security support as we can to enable that aid to get through, and we make a mistake if we compare what we are attempting today in Afghanistan with the occupations of various imperialist troops in the past. I disagree with the noble Lord’s criticism of the coalition forces. We have seen the effectiveness of NATO over the past 50 years or so, and it is vital that we work with our coalition partners to provide the environment within Afghanistan in which the rule of law can flourish. That is the precondition for our being able to provide livelihoods which are an alternative to the dominant opium trade in the country. When we recognise that only about 8 per cent of the population of Afghanistan is involved in the narcotics trade but that the economy is dominated by the trade, and when we look at the level of the population that voted in the recent elections, we can see that there is no shortage of support for what we, together with the coalition forces, are attempting to achieve there. I say to the noble Lord that we believe we will be successful in this cause.