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Defence Policy

I do not question the hon. Gentleman's motives; he is entitled to his opinions and to express them freely and fairly in this House without any let or hindrance, and he does that—and good luck to him. However, it is one thing to be long on the analysis of the problems, but we in this place must also be clear about the solutions. Those who are suggesting that the mission is doomed to failure and should be curtailed or ended, and that our guys should come home—[Interruption.] Well, I respect the hon. Gentleman for not saying that, but those who do say it have to be able to deal with one other question, which is important as it affects security here in the UK: would they be happy with the return of the Taliban and al-Qaeda and the safe havens that would be generated? [Interruption.] I understand that that is not the hon. Gentleman's point, but there are many who do put that point. The hon. Gentleman is entitled to question the mission and to question Ministers; that is fair and proper and it is what we gather here to do. In answer to his questions about the Secretaries of State for International Development and for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, let me point out that this is a defence policy debate. The strategy in Afghanistan is a combined political and military strategy. There are plenty of opportunities in this place—the hon. Gentleman will know all about them—to question both those Secretaries of State about all such matters. I suspect that if both of them were present we would all make rather long speeches, and that the hon. Gentleman would probably not be called to contribute today—and we would all be the poorer for that. To turn to a point that I suspect addresses the concern of my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen), I acknowledge that in its form and length the conflict in Afghanistan is different from many in which we have been engaged during the past century. Progress will be measured; it will be incremental, and it will take time. We will need patience, which is difficult in an era that often demands instant solutions. I understand the responsibility on me to continue to make it clear to the House and the British people why we are asking the men and women of our armed forces potentially to pay the ultimate price. I believe, very simply, that it is to protect our freedom, our values and our security as a nation. Clearly, 2008 has been a difficult year for coalition forces in Afghanistan. We have lost 35 brave men and women in the service of this country, and there remain issues of real concern, such as the increasingly porous nature of the border with Pakistan, the fragile nature of governance in parts of Afghanistan, and the corrosive effect of the drugs trade on civil society. As with most things in life, however, sweeping generalisations often fail the test of serious scrutiny. So it is in the case of Afghanistan, where there is real and tangible evidence of progress. With the support of our troops, the Afghan national army is becoming a force capable of independent counter-insurgency operations, as those in Lashkar Gah recently demonstrated well. The ambition to increase ANA force capacity from 60,000 to 122,000 over the next few years is the right strategy for coalition forces and the Afghan Government. We will give our full support to the ANA's increasing role and capability. In 2009, there will be provincial and national elections in Afghanistan. We know that the insurgents will do everything that they can to disrupt the democratic process, because they are opposed to it, but the simple principle of the democratic ideal is universal: that every man and woman in Afghanistan should have the chance to choose their Government, free from violence and intimidation. Of course, it is for the Afghans to decide how they want their country to develop, and it may take many forms, but I would argue consistently for that strong, clear, simple, universal principle. Effective security and governance are linked by the third challenge in Afghanistan, which is tackling corruption. Narcotics remain the poison that permeates Afghanistan's political and economic system as well as its people. There has been some progress, and 2008 has seen a fall in opium production. Following the recent NATO summit in Budapest, I am confident that the international security assistance force in Afghanistan can make greater progress still in targeting the opium factories and narco-traffickers to cut the primary source of funding for the insurgency. I accept that there is more to do, and that the Afghan forces themselves must increasingly take responsibility. There has also been real and tangible progress in Iraq towards the creation of a secure and stable democracy in the middle east. Security has improved across every part of Iraq, with the level of violent incidents down to what it was in 2004. Increasingly, the 600,000 Iraqi security forces are taking the lead, with coalition forces able to concentrate on support, training and mentoring roles. That is as it should be. When I visited Iraq last week I was enormously encouraged by what I saw. The security situation in Basra, particularly, has significantly improved, and with our continued support the Iraqi security forces have freedom of movement right across the city. We are on track to complete our training mission with the 14th division of the Iraqi army in the first months of next year, in line with the Prime Minister's announcement of 22 July. Once we have completed our key tasks in the south, we expect a fundamental change of military mission in Iraq in the early months of next year. I discussed the matter with Prime Minister Maliki and Defence Minister Abd al-Qadir, who both want an enduring, broad-based bilateral defence relationship with the UK, in which our military role in Iraq is focused on training and education. That is what we want, too. We are working on the details of that, including a status of forces agreement, to provide the legal basis that will underpin our troops' presence in Iraq beyond the end of the year. I should like to put on record my appreciation for what our troops have done and are continuing to do in Iraq. When they return, they can come home with pride and satisfaction in the job that they have done. I wish to touch briefly on the two other objectives of UK defence policy: readiness for new operations and building future capacity and capability.