Gordon Brown Doesn’t Want to Restrict the Afghanistan Mission

He may not survive the upcoming U.K. election, but Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave a speech today in Parliament arguing against any strategy for Afghanistan that doesn’t prop up Afghan governing capacity:

Our objective is clear and focused; to prevent al Qaeda launching attacks on our streets and threatening legitimate government in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But if we limit ourselves simply to targeting al Qaeda – without building the capacity of Afghanistan and Pakistan to deal with terrorism and violent extremism – the security gains will not endure.

He pledged to send an additional 500 troops to Afghanistan, raising the U.K. force component to 9,500, or a bit less than a tenth of current NATO forces.