British Begin Withdrawing From Afghanistan

450 now.

Why? Because he's tying Britain's commitment to the effort to Obama's -- and Obama already declared he'd be moving troops out of Afghanistan by the summer.

But the move is bitterly opposed by military chiefs, who claim it risks throwing away the gains made by British forces.

Colonel Stuart Tootal, ex-commander of 3 Para, said: "We should only get out when the job is done properly.

"We are on the right track, but if we take our foot off the gas now, we risk all the success and investment we have achieved so far."

Mr Cameron's order fulfils a long-standing promise to President Barack Obama to bring the war to an end in step with the US.

Previously he had set 2014 as a deadline, but then ordered plans for early draw-dawns, hinting that they're leaving a lot earlier than 2014.

by this summer, at the same time the US will start reducing its troop numbers.

The main argument against Cameron's decision is driven by the fear that a premature removal of British troops could highly hinder the counter-insurgency mission led in Afghanistan, thus enhancing the Taliban's influence throughout the country. Detractors regret that Cameron's decision seems to be more political than strategic. In addition to Bin Laden's death, the number of British troops deaths in Afghanistan, which amount to 364, have also played a key role. Since the beginning of the operation in 2001, public opinion and support for the mission has decreased considerably as the British death toll increased.

posted by Ace at 12:34 PM

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