Mission Accomplished take II

[Gob]

UK troops can come home from Afghanistan knowing it was mission accomplished, David Cameron has said as he visited the country.

The prime minister met forces stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand, a year before the last British combat forces are due to leave the country.

He said a "basic level of security" had been achieved and troops could "come home with their heads held high.

But Labour warned against complacency, insisting the "job was not yet done".

Military experts said UK troops had been broadly successful in fulfilling their central objectives - set out in their UN mandate - of protecting the Afghan population and institutions from Taliban insurgents and ensuring al-Qaeda did not regain a foothold in the country.

However, senior military figures are braced for increased activity next year as more troops pull out and expect elections being staged next year to be a particular focus for insurgent groups.

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Asked by reporters if personnel were coming home with the message "mission accomplished", the prime minister, accompanied by former England footballer Michael Owen, said: "Yes, I think they do."

He added: "To me, the absolute driving part of the mission is a basic level of security so it doesn't become a haven for terror. That is the mission, that was the mission and I think we will have accomplished that mission and so our troops can be very proud of what they have done."

[rubato]

The mission which was forced on us (collectively) and which it was ours to do has been accomplished and then some. The task of re-building and governing a safe and stable Afghanistan was never ours to begin with. Only the Afghan people and leadership can do that. We should pull out now.

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

coitus interuptus