LONDON -- British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a speech that the military situation in Afghanistan has become a stalemate.
Miliband said that with other NATO allies unenthusiastic about committing reinforcements to the conflict, it may be 2012 when the Afghan army is expected to be double its current size, before the United Kingdom and the United States can make any significant reductions in their presence.
The Daily Telegraph said Friday that Miliband declined to say if he was in favor of a drawdown of British troops in Afghanistan before 2012.
The Telegraph said Miliband was basing his conclusions on a new U.S. assessment of the Afghan situation that concludes that Pakistan will be a key part in the eventual resolution of the conflict. He added that Afghanistan would require a political as well as military solution to end the conflict.
Copyright © 2008, by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.