Neil Gardiner opened the talk by stating that 2/3 of NATO forces in

Afghanistan come from the Anglo-American (and Commonwealth)

alliance, as well as most of the casualties. This is very indicative of
current NATO “burden-sharing.” Nevertheless, war in Afghanistan is
one the West cannot and must not lose. Should NATO withdraw, this
would be a major victory for Islamic extremists around the world,
Afghanistan would once again be used as a launch pad for al-Qaeda
and its terror attacks. Furthermore, Gardiner said, should NATO fail in
Afghanistan, this could mean the collapse of the alliance and end of
NATO as we know it today.

Following Neil Gardiner’s introduction, Liam Fox MP spoke on the

present situation in Afghanistan. 2009, he said, has been the bloodiest
year in Afghanistan since the original invasion in 2001. Political future –
of Afganistan and of support for the war in the West – is filled with
uncertainty. He spoke about the need to clarify the fact that the US,
UK, and NATO are in Afghanistan because of national security
necessity, not choice. Afghanistan, he said, is where Sept. 11th attacks
were planned and put in motion – and as such, this war is paramount in
preserving safety and security of the West. If we lose in Afghanistan,
Fox emphatically stated, it would be a shot in the arm of every jihadist
and extremist in Middle East and around the world, and NATO would be
seem as ineffective and as a failed body. This would mean that in the
first test since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, NATO would have failed
miserably – and would possibly lead to the collapse of the alliance. Fox
furthermore urged the continental European allies to reflect on the
security future where the United States is isolationist and focused
away from Europe. Also, Fox reminded NATO members that war in
Afghanistan is waged under the Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty,
and NATO is not living up to its promises of both burden-sharing and of
its treaty obligations. It’s time for Europe to stop making excuses and
start contributing.

As far as Afghanistan itself was concerned, Fox said that we shouldn’t

apply standards of Jeffersonian democracy on a 13th century tribal
country. It is good, he said, that democracy is slowly building there and
human rights are being restored, but that is not the primary mission of
Western forces in Afghanistan. The primary mission, he reiterated, is
national security and fighting terrorism. The international community,
however, needs to rally behind the fledgling Afghanistan government
and assist in building a top-down Afghanistan National Army, as well as
a localized bottom-up approach to its police force. Concerning
negotiations with the Taliban, Fox said that it would be great to create
consensus among those Afghanis (and various tribes) who want to see
the country move forward – but warned that there will always be those
unreasonable and irreconcilable elements who seek to fight against the
West until the bitter end. Those, he said, we must defeat.

Fox also touched upon the Pakistan part of the AfPak theater, and said
that those two are inseparable. A collapse in Pakistan would mean that
regional success would be impossible – but at the same time, Pakistan
is not ready to fight terror within its own borders and in the Swat
Province. To the Pashtu tribes there, the majority-Punjabi Pakistan
Army might as well be foreign. Furthermore, a collapse of a nuclear-
armed state would be a nightmare for the West, both in the region and
in the broader sense.

Finally, Fox noted that we are entering a crucial and historic stage of
war in Afghanistan – the time is running out, but we need to stay the
course. However, the time is running out, and there will be some tough
decisions (against the public opinion) that governments on both sides
of the Atlantic will have to make.