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Defence Policy

The point I was making was that we already have a NATO mission there anyway, so what does the EU bring to that area that NATO cannot? I understand that the headline was not what the Secretary of State intended, but he knows that any term used in relation to the European Union and defence is heavily loaded with all sorts of hidden meanings, and no doubt he will be well into that debate as we move forward. The Secretary of State concentrated on Afghanistan for the bulk of his speech and, clearly, that is the top priority for NATO at present. He correctly reiterated the main reasons for our being there, the first of which is our national security. It is often forgotten in the debate about Afghanistan that we are there primarily for our own safety. [Interruption.] I am well aware that that is what the Secretary of State said, as the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Mr. Davies), says. I can hear and I can understand the Secretary of State's comments. As I was saying, the fact that we are there primarily for reasons of our national security is important and we must reiterate it at every point, because sometimes the debate about Afghanistan is lost in the language of reconstruction. Reconstruction is very important in our ability to create a stable state, which is part of our long-term plan, but we also need to remember that success in Afghanistan is important for both the cohesion and credibility of NATO in the longer term. If we fail in Afghanistan, what credibility do we have elsewhere? It is perhaps an existential mission for Afghanistan but, notwithstanding our military capabilities, there is a danger of the broader operation in Afghanistan becoming a shambles, with everyone and no one in charge. I was recently asked about the strategy in Afghanistan, and I was moved to ask, ““Which strategy?”” Was it the UN strategy, the NATO strategy, the American strategy, the Afghan Government strategy or the reconstruction strategy? All too many strategies seem to be going on at the same time, and all too few are properly integrated. As has been said recently, it is certainly true that we cannot have a purely military victory in Afghanistan, but we can have a purely military defeat, if we are not careful and we do not have the appropriate commitments. We need to be clear about how we will ultimately make the transition from a largely military operation to what will ultimately be a civilian mission over a longer time scale.