By IRNA,
London : The Nato-led war in Afghanistan is based upon false premises, according to Paul Flynn, one of the longest-serving British MPs.
The government’s claim that Afghanistan presents a terrorist threat to Britain was a “foolish assumption,” said Flynn, who has been Labour Member of Parliament for Newport West, in Wales, since 1987.
“The terrorist threat to Britain has stemmed from Yorkshire (in north England), Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Pakistan. There has never been a single Afghani convicted,” he said in an interview with IRNA.
In December, Flynn secured an adjournment parliamentary debate on Afghanistan after the number of British soldiers killed in the country is reached 100 last year, questioning why the troops were being sacrificed.
He also raised an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons condemning Army Chief General Sir David Richards for claiming that the Afghan campaign should not be judged by casualties alone, saying they should be the UK’s “prime concern in determining future strategy.”
Speaking ahead of next week’s conference on Afghanistan hosted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the 74-year old MP told IRNA that it was called for “three absorbed purposes.”
These included the claim that corruption could be eliminated in the country under President Hamid Karzai’s regime and that peace and security could be based on the Afghan army and police that was “not possible.”
Flynn, who is a member of the Public Administration Committee, believed that the real reason for the conference was for Britain and the US to pull out their troops as soon as possible and to “spin it as a victory.”
But he suggested that it may expose division among Nato members because of Karzai’s desire to reach a deal with the Taliban and warlords.
“Sooner or later an orderly deal will have to be made with the Taliban. It was the only sensible outcome,” said the veteran MP, who also opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“The sooner the better,” he said, believing the longer British troops remained increased the risk of terrorism. Alternatively, he suggested that Nato may be forced to leave like the Americans when they were in Vietnam.
Among other issues, Flynn has campaigned for Britain’s nuclear weapons to be included in disarmament negotiations to help achieve a successful nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference in May 2010.