This is how we will be able to start something else:

[spindrifter]

An open-ended operation?
May 3, 2006

Tomorrow Britain takes over command of the international security assistance force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. For the first time since the second world war a senior British military officer - Lieutenant General David Richards, commander of Nato's allied rapid reaction corps (ARRC) - will be in charge of American troops on foreign operations.

<snip>

Nato planners, looking for a new role for an alliance set up to counter the Soviet bloc in Europe during the cold war, see it as a highly significant test case, possibly providing a blueprint for missions elsewhere, notably Africa.


<snip>

Britain, as ever, is more than happy to do America's bidding. The deployment of British troops will allow the US to cut number of its troops on the ground.

<snip>

The job of British troops, says the defence secretary, John Reid, is to help build up Afghan national military and security forces to make the country safe from terrorists, the Taliban, warlords, and the opium trade. It is entirely separate, he says, from the job the US will continue to take on - looking for al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants along the border with Pakistan.

<snip>

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_nortontaylor/2006/05/no_exit_from_kabul.html