After a decade, end of war in sight - Sydney Morning Herald

An Australian soldier in the Mirabad Valley. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

After a decade of war in Afghanistan and 39 combat deaths, the end is firmly in sight for Australian troops with the planned closure of their main base by the end of the year.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith told reporters on Tuesday morning that at least 1000 regular troops - of a present force of about 1650 - would leave the country after the closure of Tarin Kowt multinational base in Oruzgan province.

Mr Smith also revealed that Australia's 300 special forces could join the main withdrawal by December 31 if the government decided there was insufficient reason for them to stay.

''If we come to the conclusion that there's no role for special forces in 2014 and no role for special forces in 2015 … then at the end of 2013, the special forces will come back like everyone else,'' Mr Smith said.

Previously the government has flagged keeping special forces in the country next year and perhaps beyond 2015 if other countries such as the US plan similar continuing involvement and if a legal mandate can be agreed with the Afghan government.

''We've got to make a judgment about what, if any, contribution is made by special forces. That will ultimately depend … on what the mandate, if any, is for special forces post-2015,'' Mr Smith said.

The formal date by which security in Afghanistan is handed over to the Afghan government is the end of 2014 - as agreed by the international coalition of countries at the Lisbon and Chicago summits.

Defence Force chief David Hurley said progress had been made in Oruzgan province, while acknowledging the society Australian forces would leave behind was far from perfect.

''For journalists to come into Afghanistan and tell me there's corruption, disreputable characters, tribal interplays and whatever - I don't need to be told that. We've lived there for 10 years, nearly. These issues are rife,'' he said, presumably referring to a series of articles by Paul McGeough in Fairfax newspapers.

Former chief of army, now director of Canberra University's National Security Institute, Peter Leahy, said Oruzgan province would be better off for a decade of Australian presence. ''The sacrifice of our soldiers was worthwhile. We've given the Afghan people a chance,'' he said. But ''a compelling case was yet to be made'' for keeping special forces beyond 2015 for training and counterterrorism - as Mr Smith has flagged.

William Maley, an Afghanistan expert at the Australian National University, said Afghanistan could not be stabilised ''province by province'', making it hard to gauge the ADF's success. ''The big question is … not really what the Australians have achieved in Oruzgan but whether things like sanctuaries in Pakistan from which the Taliban operate have been adequately addressed,'' he said.

Peter Jennings, head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the fact that political talks with the Taliban were under way was a sign of military success.

''That's really what ISAF has been fighting for for the last 10 years - to convince the Taliban they cannot win on the battlefield.''