The British Foreign Secretatry has today made a speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels concerning the mission in Afghanistan and the political strategy necessary for success.

The political strategy regarded as essential by David Miliband to any on-going mission in Afghanistan involves the country's government in talks with the Taliban.  He states that: ‘Whether military breakthroughs are translated into strategic success will depend on the political strategy that is pursued and on the political coalition that is built'.  

Miliband reiterated America's military commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal's statement that "The measure of effectiveness will not be enemy killed; it will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence".

In the speech, Miliband encourages a greater level of cooperation between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban.  

A central point of the speech was in finding a basis for reconciliation and reintegration, and the Afghanistan government developing grass-roots initiatives ‘to offer an alternative to the fight or flight for the foot soldiers of the insurgency.'
Miliband claims ‘The basis for reconciliation and reintegration is a starker choice: bigger incentives to switch sides and stay out of trouble, alongside tougher action against those who refuse.'
There is a focus on creating a ‘clear route' away from insurgency and back to their villages and farming, whilst also finding a place for some within the Afghan security forces.  

The plans also include separating separate hard-line ideologues from those who can be drawn into the ‘domestic political process'; dividing the various and sometimes loosely bound insurgency in Afghanistan.  

Gordon Brown has also chosen this day to announce the end of the first phase of Operation Panther's Claw.  His comments commemorated those who have died in recent weeks and celebrated the ‘determination and professionalism and courage' that the armed forces in Afghanistan have shown.  

“What we have actually done is make land secure for about 100,000 people. What we've done is push back the Taliban - and what we've done also is to start to break that chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain.”

The announcements have come on the same day that Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for International Development, outlined a £255 million package of UK development support for the Afghan government, which is to be spread over the next for years.  

The money will be used by the Afghan Government to pay the salaries of teachers, doctors and nurses, to extend micro credit facilities to 450,000 Afghans and to deliver small scale community development initiatives to over 23,100 communities across Afghanistan, including improvements to transport, water supply and sanitation, irrigation, power, and rural development.
At the press conference in Kabul, on the 27th July, Douglas Alexander said that ‘overcoming the insurgency militarily is only part of the solution … A secure future for Afghanistan means a future free of poppy, with a self-sufficient agriculture sector and a strong Government.'