clipped from www.mod.uk

The Chief of the Defence Staff has said today that while the UK strategy in Afghanistan is the right one, the outcome depends on the will power to see it through in the long term and whether the Afghans themselves can make progress in areas of governance.

British troops take a break while on operations in Afghanistan
[Picture: Sgt Dan Harmer RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]

More boots on the ground are needed he said but that they need to be Afghan boots.

"We face extremist Islamist groups who pursue a campaign of global terrorist violence in order to further their ideological ends. These groups pose a direct threat to the UK, its citizens and their interests, so must be countered."

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup