Nige
Shooting from the hip a little as I haven't got facts to hand...
Think that this was always the plan, as a long-term commitment to the regeneration of Afghanistan. From memory these timetables were thrashed out as long ago as the Bonn summit. UK lead of this particular element (Phase 4?) has been set up from the start, so it shouldn't be a surprise to us.
Has the planning been properly conducted by ourselves (I mean very senior serving personnel) or is this a pig's ear because of politicos and MOD? I think the answer is both...This was always going to happen, SO1/SO2 planners have been screaming at various higher level agencies for ages. Sadly standard bul
it filtering means it's difficult to assess where the fault lies. Higher echelon command blames it on MOD, MOD blames it on lack of guidance from below. 'T was ever thus!
Another question. Is Task Force Butler helping the situation on the ground? Who knows...