Prime minister bows to pressure from defence chiefs on Afghan forces
Despite rising public opposition to the war, Gordon Brown is increasing the number of British troops in Afghanistan
Richard Norton-Taylor
In a widely trailed announcement, Gordon Brown told the Commons ministers had decided to increase the number of British troops to join the 9,000 already deployed in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, by 500. It soon became clear he was addressing a number of different constituencies.
The government is aware of rising public opposition in both the UK and US to the counter insurgency war in Afghanistan the latest poll, by Populus for the Times, records that more than a third of voters believe British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Growing opposition to Britain's military presence has been driven by women, with four out of 10 wanting Britain out.
Yet Downing Street has also been under intense pressure from defence chiefs, particularly army commanders, to send in reinforcements. Military commanders say more troops are needed to protect and build up the civil infrastructure of areas captured from the Taliban. There are not enough troops to secure all the populated "green belt" along the river Helmand, they say. When British soldiers launched Panther's Claw, an operation north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, in the summer, several British soldiers were killed in the exposed Sangin valley to the north-east.
Today's announcement follows a series of meetings of the cabinet's national security committee, which is attended by defence chiefs as well as the head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, and the head of MI6, Sir John Scarlett. They have been held in parallel with meetings in the White House where Barak Obama is also under pressure from army commanders to send in more troops. Brown said the agreement to send in 500 more British troops was "consistent with what the Americans will decide", a clear hint that Obama will agree to increase the number of US troops, though not by the 40,000 requested by the American commander there, General Stanley McChrystal.
Brown set out to meet the concerns of the growing number of sceptics, if not the outright opponents, by saying the decision to deploy 500 more UK soldiers was subject to three conditions. These are that the troops needed to be properly equipped; that Hamid Karzai, when, as expected, he is declared winner of the recent presidential election, must be committed to "Afghanisation" of security forces; and there has to be co-ordination of strategy and tactics with other Nato countries, notably the US.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence secretary, described the decision as a difficult one, saying the extra troops must be "properly supplied with the kit and equipment they need to do the job". Only on Tuesday a cross-party committee of MPs criticised the Ministry of Defence for not providing British troops in Afghanistan with sufficient and reliable armoured vehicles. And senior officers admitted recently that British troops fighting in southern Afghanistan would not have enough vehicles until the end of next year.
However, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of the defence staff, and General Sir David Richards, the new head of the army, have said they are confident that the extra risks involved in deploying more troops are manageable.
In a statement after Brown's announcement to MPs, Stirrup said: "The force uplift announced today will help us to strengthen and deepen security in those areas where we are supporting the development of that governance."
Richards said: "Having sufficient troops on the ground is the key to this campaign."
Brown mentioned twice that he had recently telephoned Karzai, who is embroiled in charges of corruption and fraud, insisting that he must be committed to expanding the Afghan National Army the aim is to increase it from the current 90,000 to 134,000 in a year's time and to make sure aid money gets to local communities rather than staying in Kabul, the capital.
"Afghanisation" is the key to an exit strategy, Brown suggested. He said the sooner more Afghan troops were trained, the sooner British and US troops "can come home".
Stirrup emphasised the point in his statement. The defence chiefs joined Brown in repeating the mantra that "the safety of the country [Britain] is at stake" in Afghanistan.
Interestingly, polls say that more people support David Cameron's approach to Afghanistan than Brown's, even though the Conservative leader also wants to increase the number of troops.
