CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA // Australia may start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in two years if its mission to train Afghan National Army soldiers goes as planned, the defence minister said today. The latest information from the Australian Defence Force indicated the training mission could be completed anywhere between two and four years, the defence chief John Faulkner said. Australia's force of 1,550 troops in southern Uruzgan province would then begin withdrawing over the next 12 months, he said.
Mr Faulkner's comments marked the first time an Australian official has offered a possible timetable on plans to begin pulling forces out of the war-torn country. Mr Faulkner's announcement came after three Australian commandos were killed in a helicopter crash this week, bringing the country's death toll in the Afghan campaign to 16. Polls show public support for Australian military involvement in Afghanistan is waning.
Australia's central focus in Afghanistan has been the training of an Afghan National Army, which was expected to take between three to five years before Afghans could take responsibility for security in Uruzgan. "The best advice available to government is that Australia should complete its training mission with the Afghan National Army in a period of between two and four years," Mr Faulkner said. "At the conclusion of that mission, I would expect to see our mission transition from a training mission to an over-watch role. This is what happened in Iraq," he said.
Neil James, the executive director of the independent security think tank Australian Defence Association, described the announcement as significant. "They're no longer talking about restoring security to the province. They're saying, 'once we've trained up the Afghans, that's it',"' Mr James said. Mr Faulkner also said a US-led multinational force will replace Dutch troops when they pull out of Afghanistan in August. The Dutch have 1,600 troops in Uruzgan and provide a leadership role.
Observers had said Australia was well placed to increase its own troops and take over from the Dutch, but the Australian government ruled out sending more soldiers. Mr Faulkner also commented on the controversy enveloping the Afghanistan war commander, US Gen Stanley McChrystal, over disparaging comments he made in a magazine interview about the US president Barack Obama and his top aides. Mr Obama summoned Mr McChrystal to Washington.
"I do believe that is matter for Gen McChrystal and the US administration, but ... I note that he acknowledged he shouldn't have said what he did say ... he's apologised for his error of judgment," Mr Faulkner said. * AP
