PM David Cameron praises British troops in Afghanistan

Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting Afghanistan, said British troops there can proudly return home after having achieved a "basic level of security." Cameron, making his Christmas season trip to visit with British troops at Camp Bastion in southern Helmand province, was asked by reporters whether the troops can come with mission accomplished. "To me the absolute driving part of the mission is the basic level of security so that it doesn't become a haven for terror," the Daily Telegraph quoted Cameron as saying. "That is the mission, that was the mission and I think we will have accomplished that mission and so our troops can be very proud of what they have done." The BBC quoted Cameron as saying with a "basic level of security" having been achieved, the troops could return home "with their heads held high." The U.S-led coalition forces are scheduled to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 even though the country is witnessing a sharp resurgence of Taliban insurgency and violence. The United States and NATO are currently involved with the Afghan government to determine how many of their troops would remain in the country after 2014 with the primary aim of training Afghan security forces. In the case of Britain, there are currently about 5,200 of its troops in Afghanistan. Cameron said after 2014 there will be no British troops in a combat role there. In the past 12 years since the Afghan operations began, 446 British soldiers have died in that country. "We are not going to abandon this country. We are going to go on funding the Afghan National Army and police into the future," Cameron said. The "mission accomplished" reference goes back to a controversial speech by former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003 after the Iraq war victory. That speech was made on a U.S. aircraft carrier under a banner "Mission accomplished." The BBC reported a spokesman at Cameron's office, when asked if the prime minister's comment could be deemed as premature, said he had not used the words "mission accomplished" himself but had responded to a question from a journalist accompanying him. The Guardian reported Cameron also had told reporters the British troops would not "leave behind a perfect country or a perfect democracy." The Daily Telegraph quoted a senior British source as saying: "The summary of where we're at in Helmand is overwhelmingly positive. The campaign here is on track and the Afghans are in a good place in the short, medium and long term."