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Afghanistan is not our Vietnam, says Defence Secretary
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent08.07.09
The Government today warned more soldiers would die in Afghanistan but denied the fight against the Taliban was turning into “another Vietnam”.
In his first keynote speech, new Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth called for “support and patience” for the thousands of British troops in Afghanistan, insisting that progress is being made in defeating the Taliban.
“Let us be under no illusion. The situation in Afghanistan is serious ... and not yet decided,” he said in an address to the Chatham House think tank.
“The way forward is hard and dangerous. More lives will be lost and our resolve will be tested.”
His comments came hours after the Ministry of Defence announced that another British soldier, from the Light Dragoons, had been killed in the southern Helmand province yesterday, bringing the death toll this week to seven. Next of kin have been informed.
Senior Conservative MP John Maples said at Prime Minister's Questions that many people were questioning why thousands of UK soldiers are fighting the Taliban.
But Tory leader David Cameron warned against “cutting and running” from Afghanistan.
Speaking on BBC Radio, Mr Cameron admitted he was unhappy with some aspects of the campaign including the slow pace of training the Afghan army and corruption in the Kabul government, saying: “We need to be smarter in what we do.”
But he added: “The option of just cutting and running and leaving, I just don't think would be right for our safety and our security.”
Mr Ainsworth said the Taliban were adapting their tactics as quickly as British and US forces in the conflict, building more sophisticated and powerful roadside bombs. “If we are to succeed we will need both the courage and the patience to see it through,” he added. He accepted that there is “gloom and worry back here in London” over recent fatalities.
Asked on BBC Radio if the campaign was becoming “another Vietnam”, Mr Ainsworth said: “I don't accept that.” He added there were “compelling reasons” for the UK's engagement in Aghanistan.
“For Britain to be secure, Afghanistan needs to be secure,” he said. British forces are engaged in an intense operation, codenamed Operation Panther's Claw, targeting the Taliban in the central Helmand river valley.
A parallel operation by 4,000 US marines is seeking to clear the southern part of the valley.
The number of UK troops in Afghanistan has increased to about 9,000. But some British military chiefs believe more soldiers will be needed.
Helicopter crash officer is named
The soldier, 27, in the 22 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, died alongside two Canadian troops in the southern Zabul Province on Monday.
He attended Maidstone Grammar School before studying physics and astronomy at University College London. He went on to Sandhurst military academy in September 2005. His mother Nina said: “One of the brightest stars in the firmament has been lost in the line of a duty which was second only to his love for his family and friends.”
Seven UK servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan in the past week, including the highest-ranking Army officer to die on operations since the Falklands, Lt-Col Rupert Thorneloe, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards. He died with Trooper Joshua Hammond, 18, last Wednesday. Twelve days earlier one of Lt-Col Thorneloe's senior soldiers Major Sean Birchall, 33, was killed in a roadside bomb. Major Birchall was laid to rest today as officers praised him as “an outstandingly talented” commander. His widow, Joanne, led the mourners as hundreds of family, friends and comrades gathered for his funeral at the Guards' Chapel.
Major Birchall, who grew up in Guildford, and Joanne have an 18-month-old son.
Reader views (3)
Well it was stated that we will not see a shot fired and off our brave lads went in golf buggys, part time defense minister in charge of 2 theatres of operations, what a government, absolutely no clue, give India 800 million in aid and India orders a air craft carrier from Russia for 1.3 billion, not even us but Russia, just laughing at this load of idiots called labour
- Rob, Rock Ferry Wirral
David Crocket, Bradford , UK. - You are very very naive.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants
This is a bloody disgrace, the MOD and CIA are just using Afghanistan as a military training exercise they could stop all this conflict in a breath, we have the power and technology on our side, and we are not using it to our advantage, but the real problem is poppies, destroy them all, get the farmers to grow fruit and veg, pay them a reasonable return, so that they can live a normal existence, educate this country in the ways of commerce, make it a nice place to live, you throw bombs at them , and they will throw bombs back, if you throw food and a future at them, I think you may see a different response, you will still have the extremist, but so few, the afghan army can sort out, this is not Salisbury Plain, it is a different exercise, this is a thinking exercise, between minds, forget the armourments, but come down like a ton of bricks on the poppy fields, this is the main revenue of the extremist in this area, and daft enough its the west that mainly buy the drugs, that gives them the money to buy the weapons to kill our soldiers.
- David Crocket, Bradford , UK.
