Afghanistan
5th July 2010
During Defence Questions, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown asks the Secretary of State about the importance of the effectiveness of the Afghan national army and the problems of recruitment and retention, infrastructure and logistics.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con): Does my right hon. Friend agree that any timetable will depend not just on the numbers in the Afghan national army, but on its effectiveness? What discussions has he had about the emerging problems of recruitment and retention, infrastructure and logistics? Are not those matters critical to the effectiveness of the Afghan national army?
Dr Fox: My hon. Friend is correct on all those issues. In fact, the number of the Afghan national security forces has tended to be ahead of trend in recent times. The quality of the training is constantly kept under review and I had discussions in Washington on the subject last week.