US: US, Britain discuss Afghanistan
By Lachlan CarmichaelThu Jul 30 01:56:08 EST 2009
WASHINGTON, July 29 AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began talks on Wednesday with her British counterpart David Miliband who vowed to keep troops in Afghanistan despite growing calls at home for their withdrawal.
Clinton and Miliband began a long series of talks in Washington on the war in Afghanistan but also on Iran's and North Korea's nuclear ambitions as well as Middle East peacemaking, a State Department official told AFP.
"They have had the breakfast meeting and are continuing their talks," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
"Both the Secretary and Foreign Secretary Miliband will want to look at how the US and UK can strengthen cooperation to help improve the overall security and economic situation in the country," the official added.
President Barack Obama's administration has put efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan -- torn by a revived Taliban insurgency -- at the heart of the US struggle to defeat terrorism worldwide.
In an interview Tuesday with PBS television, Miliband defended Britain's deployment of 9,000 troops to Afghanistan -- the largest foreign contribution after the United States -- against a loss of British public support.
"We say that this mission is in Britain's national security interest," Miliband told the US network when asked what his government tells a British public that is increasingly calling for their withdrawal.
"Nearly three-quarters of the terrorist plots that have been either taken place or foiled against the UK (United Kingdom) have their links into the badlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan," Britain's top diplomat said.
He added that the 42-member international military coalition must remain in Afghanistan until Afghan security forces can take over.
Britain's top diplomat refused to rule out further British troop deployments to Afghanistan.
Miliband said there is is no military "solution" in the long-term, but said the troop presence can help lay the foundation for political stability.
The United States -- which has deployed an estimated 56,000 troops to Afghanistan -- and Britain have stepped up their troop presence to fight a growing insurgency ahead of August 20 national elections.
Miliband said the coalition must pursue a complementary "political strategy" that brings the Afghan people and neighbouring countries fully on the side of the Afghan government, undermined by charges of corruption.
An opinion poll published in London Tuesday showed most Britons believe the increasingly bloody war in Afghanistan is "unwinnable" and want troops pulled out.
There are about 90,000 foreign troops -- mainly US, British and Canadian -- deployed in Afghanistan on a mission to stabilise the country with the Taliban insurgency at its deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion.
A spokesman at the British embassy in Washington told AFP the Clinton-Miliband talks will focus on the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as "stability in the Middle East."
