Intel Services Chair: UK Can’t Continue as World Police

Fears Obama Just 'Hoping for the Best' in Afghan Surge

In a frank assessment of Britain’s role in the endless war on terror, key Member of Parliament Kim Howells, the chairman of the intelligence services committee, called for Britain to rethink its role internationally.

I think we believe we have a bigger punch than we have,” the MP noted, warning that every major problem for the international community has led to sending British soldiers into harms way. “It can’t continue,” Howells warned.

Instead the MP called for Britain to focus more on direct security threats instead of serving in the role of world police, adding that the public was only going to grow more dubious as the death toll rises.

Howells has been an outspoken critic of the Afghan War for quite some time, and today expressed confusion over what exactly President Obama hoped to solve with his latest escalation, saying he feared the president was simply throwing troops at the situation and “hoping for the best.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.