British Troop Numbers To Be Cut In Afghanistan

Paras and soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment board an RAF Chinook in Camp Bastion. Getty images

From The Independent:

Gordon Brown tells US he will scale down UK military involvement in the next three to five years. Brian Brady and James Fergusson report.

Britain has laid plans to begin winding down its military involvement in Afghanistan, by slashing its troop presence by at least half within five years.

Gordon Brown has put the United States on notice that he wants to cut UK troop numbers from more than 9,000 to fewer than 5,000 in "three to five years, maximum", according to senior sources at the Ministry of Defence. Ministers stress that they will not abandon Afghanistan, but they want to scale back the UK presence to levels similar to those committed by other Nato member states.

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My Comment: The British government talks about commitment to stay the course in Afghanistan .... but they plan to run away from it. For the Taliban, this is the best news that they have received in a long time.