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This story is from November 21, 2006
Fight against Taliban will take decades: Blair
UK prime minister Tony Blair said on Monday that Nato had to refocus on its commitment in Afghanistan until the job was done.
KABUL: In his first visit to the Afghan capital, UK prime minister Tony Blair on warned Monday that the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaida would be a generation-long one, and he said Nato had to refocus on its commitment in Afghanistan until the job was done.
"Now is the right time, with the Riga summit coming up, for Nato to bring into sharp focus the need for us to stay with the Afghans in their journey of progress, and rediscover within ourselves the belief and the vision that took us here and should keep us here until the job is done," he said, speaking at a news conference with president Hamid Karzai in the gardens of the presidential palace.
Blair visited British troops based in Helmand Province, in the south, where they have fought intense battles with resurgent Taliban forces this summer, and then held talks with Karzai and cabinet officials in Kabul. He pledged Britain's strong commitment to the task, despite recent difficulties, and said the world had no alternative to taking on the fight.
"Here, in this extraordinary piece of desert, is where the future of world security in the early 21st century is going to be played out," Blair told troops at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand.
"We've got the same alternatives we had five years ago: You either stick with it till the job is done, or you don't and you leave it to another generation to sort out. And I'm not prepared to do that." Blair, who visited Pakistan on Sunday, also emphasised that cooperation from Pakistan was vital for regional stability. Karzai responded to the comment by saying, "Exactly."
Blair said: "It is important that we work with everyone, including the neighbors of Afghanistan, to make sure that we realize we have got a common cause here. I have no doubt at all myself that for any neighbour of Afghanistan, anything that encourages the Taliban, destabilizes the region that's why it is important to see a common cause."
NYT News Service
"Now is the right time, with the Riga summit coming up, for Nato to bring into sharp focus the need for us to stay with the Afghans in their journey of progress, and rediscover within ourselves the belief and the vision that took us here and should keep us here until the job is done," he said, speaking at a news conference with president Hamid Karzai in the gardens of the presidential palace.
Blair visited British troops based in Helmand Province, in the south, where they have fought intense battles with resurgent Taliban forces this summer, and then held talks with Karzai and cabinet officials in Kabul. He pledged Britain's strong commitment to the task, despite recent difficulties, and said the world had no alternative to taking on the fight.
"Here, in this extraordinary piece of desert, is where the future of world security in the early 21st century is going to be played out," Blair told troops at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand.
"We know we went through a very difficult period two or three months back," he said later in Kabul. "But as a result of the work that is being done not just by American and British, but also by Afghan forces, there is a sense of the country moving forward again.
"We've got the same alternatives we had five years ago: You either stick with it till the job is done, or you don't and you leave it to another generation to sort out. And I'm not prepared to do that." Blair, who visited Pakistan on Sunday, also emphasised that cooperation from Pakistan was vital for regional stability. Karzai responded to the comment by saying, "Exactly."
Blair said: "It is important that we work with everyone, including the neighbors of Afghanistan, to make sure that we realize we have got a common cause here. I have no doubt at all myself that for any neighbour of Afghanistan, anything that encourages the Taliban, destabilizes the region that's why it is important to see a common cause."
NYT News Service
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