British: Afghan war may take years

Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, Britain's chief of defense staff, was quoted in several Saturday newspapers as saying the Afghanistan campaign could last years, while the fight against international terrorism could take half a century.

"We are in it for the long haul,'' the admiral said, according The Independent newspaper. "If it takes three or four years, then it takes three or four years.''

Boyce called the military operation the toughest Britain had faced since the Korean War, and likened the anti-terrorism campaign to the Cold War.

"The war against communism took 50 years to win, and I wonder if we shouldn't be thinking of it like that,'' he said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a radio interview Saturday that the resilience of the Taliban to sustained Allied assaults will be a key factor in the length of the campaign.

"I don't really think it's sensible to put a timetable on it,'' Hoon said.

"It could be that the Taliban's fanaticism takes them through into the New Year,'' Hoon told the British Broadcasting Corp. "It could equally be that as a result of the sustained pressure being brought to bear on them, that they collapse overnight.''

Hoon was speaking from Oman, where he was visiting British troops as they completed military exercises. Britain said Friday that 600 of its special forces troops now in Oman will be available for operations in Afghanistan.

Plans calls for 200 commandos operating from two assault ships, with 400 men from the same unit on standby in Britain.

The defense secretary gave further indications that plans call for sporadic lightning strikes by small, elite units, rather than an invasion and occupation of Afghan territory.