DAVID Cameron will face severe criticism from a powerful committee controlled by Coalition MPs for setting too firm a timetable for withdrawing from Afghanistan.The Defence Select Committee, chaired by Tory MP James Arbuthnot, is preparing to publish its findings into its Afghanistan inquiry within the next few weeks.It has concluded the Coalition Government's haste to set an "absolute" date for departure has badly undermined the military campaign, Scotland on Sunday has learned.In what is already being billed a hard-hitting report, chiefs of staff, including the former Chief of General Staff General Sir Mike Jackson, are expected to be heavily criticised for the push into Helmand province in 2006.Cameron made a surprise announcement that troops would be pulled out of combat duty in Afghanistan at a summit in Toronto in June 2010, just a few weeks after he became Prime Minister.Despite the Obama administration also indicating a timetable for withdrawal, the clear deadline set by the Prime Minister alarmed the US. Cameron agreed to slightly extend the stay in the war-torn country during the President's state visit to the UK last month.But the committee believes the date set for withdrawal by Cameron - by the end of 2014, now extended to 2015 - has made it almost impossible to win the war and may also have undermined efforts to negotiate with the Taleban. The report is also likely to question the rationale of the timing, which some members believe was motivated by political reasons rather than strategic ones.A committee member said: "The Taleban now have a calendar with a date on it when we are going to withdraw. They have a point to hold on to. If you look at our line of questioning, it is clear we believe that this absolute time- table set by the Prime Minister has seriously undermined any chance of winning this war."
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