Following is a speech delivered by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
In the week we commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, it is impossible not to feel an overwhelming sense of awe and humility at the scale of achievements and the record of service and sacrifice that has defined our British armed forces for generations.
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It is a history of extraordinary courage and of dedication often in the face of great adversity. A spirit of service that is recognised in every corner of the land in the great national acts of remembrance on Armistice Day and Armed Forces Day. And as people gather in Wootten Bassett, as they did today, to honour two brave servicemen, a local tribute that has become a national symbol of honour and gratitude to all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
Nowhere have I seen more clearly not just that sense of service but also that resilience of spirit than on each of my visits to Afghanistan. As I travelled around Helmand province last weekend, our forces were the first to point out to me the positive signs amid the challenges.I visited a police station that had been a polling booth and heard stories of Afghans voting for the first time. I witnessed a joint operation room in Lashkar Gar at work - British forces supporting the Afghan army and police in bringing security and the rule of law to the provincial capital; and I heard from Governor Mangal about the real progress being made combating the heroin trade.
But I also saw the scale of the challenges now and in the months ahead. Today has seen another serious incident in the northern province of Kunduz where Taleban hijackers had to be intercepted.
In Helmand in the last four months, over fifty British servicemen have been killed. Sixty-four have been seriously injured. These are not merely statistics. Each one is the loss of a professional dedicated and brave serviceman and the grief of a family whose lives will never be the same again. Each one a hero who deserves the same unending gratitude that we give to the heroes of the First and Second World Wars. And it is right that their service will be recognised by the new Elizabeth Cross announced by Her Majesty the Queen.
There is nothing more heart-breaking in the job I do than writing to the families of those brave servicemen and women, or meeting them, as I did this morning. Or standing by the bedside of a 19-year-old who may never be able to walk again, as I did earlier this week.
Each time I have to ask myself if we are doing the right thing by being in Afghanistan. Each time I have to ask myself if we can justify sending our young men and women to fight for this cause...And my answer has always been yes.
For when the security of our country is at stake we can not walk away. When the stability of this volatile region, spanning the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, has such a profound impact on the security of Britain and the rest of the international community we cannot just do nothing and leave the peoples of Pakistan and Afghanistan to struggle with these global problems on their own.
But while it is right that we play our part - so too must others take their fair share of this burden of responsibility. 42 countries are involved - and all must ask themselves if they are doing enough. For terrorism recognises no borders. All of us benefit from defeating terrorism and greater stability in this region - and all members of our coalition must play our proper part.
The British strategy is part of a wider international strategy and must be understood in that context.
Today I want to take head on the arguments that suggest our strategy in Afghanistan is wrong and to answer those who question whether we should be in Afghanistan at all.
There are of course those who fear that history shows international intervention in Afghanistan is doomed to failure; that our counter-insurgency strategy cannot establish the stability and security we seek; that policies for development - while admirable in principle - will make no difference in a country that is one of the poorest and most corrupt in the world; that building a strong Afghan state is not just a long and laborious task but an impossible one.
So I want to answer those who argue that while our motive, to deprive Al Qaeda and terrorists of a base, may be well-intentioned, our strategy is flawed.
Our aim in 2009 is the same as in 2001. We are in Afghanistan as a result of a hard-headed assessment of the terrorist threat facing Britain.
And we are part of a coalition of more than 40 countries embracing not just NATO - with the Danes and Estonians alongside British troops in Helmand - but countries like Australia.
So this remains, above all, an international mission: not just a mission to protect the British people from the threat of terrorism but an international mission involving over 40 countries - with the full support of the UN, the G8, NATO and the EU - because we all face the same threat.
We've all seen the reality of this threat: in Bali, Madrid, Mumbai, and of course on the streets of London four years ago.
It is our efforts at home and abroad - the efforts of our allies, the efforts of our armed forces, of the police and security services back in Britain - which have prevented and continue to prevent further terrorist attacks. A totality of effort which in Britain is better resourced and better coordinated than ever before - from increased counter-terrorist policing at home, to stronger checks at our borders, international capacity-building - and the work of our armed forces and other agencies abroad.
It is right that eight years ago Britain with America and other allies - on behalf of the international community as a whole - helped to remove from Afghanistan a regime which enabled Al Qaeda to plot terror around the world, and which culminated in the attacks on 9/11. Attacks not just on America but on the freedoms and values of us all.
But we know that as we removed the Taleban from power and drove Al Qaeda from Afghanistan, so Al Qaeda relocated to the remote mountains of Pakistan.
A new crucible of terrorism has emerged. The Director-General of our security service has said that three quarters of the most serious plots against the UK have had links that reach back into these mountains. At present the threat comes mainly from the Pakistan side, but if the insurgency succeeds in Afghanistan Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups will once again be able to use it as a sanctuary to train, plan and launch attacks on Britain and the rest of the world.
The advice I receive from the security agencies is clear. The sustained pressure on Al Qaeda in Pakistan combined with military action in Afghanistan is having a suppressive effect on Al Qaeda's ability to operate effectively in the region - but despite these difficulties, the main element of the threat to the UK continues to emanate from Al Qaeda and Pakistan.Al Qaeda retains some contacts and provides limited support to the Afghan insurgency, principally through the provision of training for foreign fighters and military expertise; continues to view Afghanistan as fundamental in the establishment of a pan-Islamic caliphate; and therefore that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan would be a severe propaganda blow and strategic failure for Al Qaeda.
It is on this basis that I made clear in the Spring - as did President Obama - that preventing terrorism coming to the streets of Britain, America and other countries depends on strengthening the authorities in both Pakistan and Afghanistan to defeat Al Qaeda, and also the Pakistan and Afghan Taleban. For if in either country, the Taleban are allowed to undermine legitimate government, that would open the way once again for Al Qaeda to have greater freedom from which to launch terrorist attacks across the world - and would have longer term implications for the credibility of NATO and the international community - and for the stability of this crucial region and for global stability.
This is why our Strategy, published in April, reflects an integrated approach across both countries. And we are now seeing what has not been obvious before: joint and complementary action on both sides of the border.
In Pakistan in the last few months, the army and security services have taken on the Pakistan Taleban in Swat, Dir and Buner. Last week President Zardari told me his forces are preparing to tackle the threat in Waziristan, because he fully recognises that terrorism poses as serious a threat to Pakistan as to the rest of the world.
We also agreed on the importance of stepping up action against Afghan Taleban leaders based in Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, the Afghan army and police are not yet ready to take on the Taleban by themselves. That is why the international coalition must maintain its military presence.
I believe that most people in Britain accept this - but I know they are concerned about how long international forces - and British forces in particular - will have to stay.
And they ask what success in Afghanistan would look like. The answer is that we will have succeeded when our troops are coming home because the Afghans are doing the job themselves. From that day on, we will be able to focus our efforts on supporting the elected government on security and on development and on human rights. The right strategy is one that completes the job, which is to enable the Afghans to take over from international forces; and to continue the essential work of denying the territory of Afghanistan as a base for terrorists.
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