UK prime minister promises commitment, demands reform in Afghanistan

London, England (CNN) — In a major speech on Afghanistan, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday that Britain “cannot, must not, and will not walk away” from its mission there.
But Brown also warned that reform in Afghanistan is necessary if British troops are to remain.
“I am not prepared to put the lives of British men and women in harm’s way for a government that does not stand up against corruption,” Brown said.
The prime minister spoke three days after an Afghan National Police officer opened fire on the British troops who were training him, killing five British soldiers and wounding six others.
Their deaths brought to 93 the number of British service personnel killed in Afghanistan this year, Brown said. Britain has 9,000 troops in the country.
Brown said the fight in Afghanistan must continue because the main terrorist threat facing Britain comes from both Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said three-quarters of all terrorist plots originate from the two countries’ shared border region.

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Gordon Brown
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“Our mission must not fail,” Brown said. “It is not easy, the choices are not simple, there is no strategy that is without danger and risk, but that is the responsibility of leadership of government and of our armed forces — to do what is necessary, however difficult, to keep the British people safe.
“We cannot, must not, and will not walk away,” Brown said.
Brown put pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who recently won a second term after an election widely marred by fraud, to clean up his new government. Karzai’s main challenger dropped out of the vote because of alleged corruption.
“People are right to ask whether our soldiers should be placed in harm’s way if the government of Afghanistan is unable or unwilling to meet its obligations to the Afghan people,” Brown said.
Brown said he has told Karzai to make a “contract with the Afghan people” against which they can measure his success. Brown said he also proposed that Karzai enact a new anti-corruption law that allows for investigation and prosecution.
Karzai promised to take “decisive action against corruption,” the prime minister said.