Britain Gives US Pledge to Stay in Afghan War

[unhappycamper]

Britain Gives US Pledge to Stay in Afghan War
June 08, 2010
Associated Press

LONDON - Britain's new government publicly assured the United States on Tuesday that it remains committed to its central role in the war in Afghanistan, despite heavy losses in what U.S. defense chief Robert Gates called the "absolute middle of the thick of the fight."

Britain's new coalition government is considered less invested in the eight-year Afghan war than its Labour predecessor, and eager to offer an exit plan to a public increasingly impatient with the stalemate.

British Defense Minister Liam Fox said that upon taking the job last month, "the first question I asked myself was, 'Should we be in Afghanistan?'"

"The answer had to be, of course, yes. We still have a national security imperative," Fox said.

That was a relief to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, standing beside Fox following a meeting that also focused on the Iranian nuclear threat.