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Afghanistan and Pakistan

My Lords, this is a long and detailed Statement, and the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, has asked specific questions of the Minister. The Liberal Democrat policy on Afghanistan has always been that we should do it properly or not at all. It is of interest that we should get such a detailed Statement eight years into a war. We have had probably more Statements from the Prime Minister in the past three months than in the past three years. Perhaps that is because of a belated realisation that public support for the war can be sustained only if there is clarity of purpose and an assurance that, at long last, our troops are getting the equipment and logistical support to do the work that is asked of them. It is very easy to pay tribute to our troops because they have indeed done a magnificent job. I do not know why the figure of 500 extra troops has been plucked out. Was it as a result of a request from the military on the ground, a political decision or a bit of both? It is worth while to say that there now appears to be a clear strategy of Afghanisation of military, civilian, policing and development activities, but with no absolute timescale. I share the belief of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, that you cannot put a calendar timescale on this, but it seems to be going in the right direction. Another key factor in improving public opinion would be if the new troop commitments from our allies deliver through into reality. There is no doubt that public support for this war was waning on the idea that only we and the Americans were serious about it. The figure of 43 nations is bandied around as a kind of comfort blanket but, as the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, said, it would be interesting to know which eight nations are referred to and what troops they are committing. At the Commonwealth conference, the Prime Minister said some rather harsh things about the Pakistan effort. What assurances do we have that there is a united front between the Pakistan Government, army and intelligence services in facing the threat to their country? We accept that a threat to Pakistan is now on the agenda as well as the threat to our own country. The Statement seems to indicate an acceptance that there is a moderate element to the Taliban. It will be interesting to see how links and offers of involvement with that moderate element will be furthered. Will the conference of 28 January involve only existing coalition partners or will an attempt be made to involve any of the other regional powers? As the Prime Minister emphasised, part of the solution will involve the other regional powers and perhaps their involvement in the 28 January conference, if only at the margins, will provide a way forward. As I said, it is easy to pay tribute to our troops because they have done a magnificent job. If this is the start of trying to do it properly, then we welcome the Statement as such. However, to coin a phrase, the test will be in delivery, delivery, delivery.