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Dead soldier's mother attacks 'delusional' Defence Secretary
18 Aug 2009The mother of the 200th armed forces member to be killed in Afghanistan launched a furious attack on Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth today, saying troops on the front line had been "short-changed" by politicians.
Private Richard Hunt, 21, of The 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh, died at the military hospital in Selly Oak on Saturday, having been injured on patrol near Musa Qaleh in Helmand province three days earlier.
His mother Hazel accused Mr Ainsworth of being "stupid and arrogant" for claiming at the weekend that UK forces would be able to hand over many front-line duties to Afghan troops "in the next year or so".
Her attack came as the Ministry of Defence prepared to name three soldiers killed in an explosion while on patrol in Afghanistan and the head of the Army called for more equipment to tackle the deadly threat of roadside bombs.
General Sir Richard Dannatt said countering improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was a "major tactical battle that we have got to win" and called for increased levels of surveillance to locate the bombs and the insurgents laying them.
Mrs Hunt, 49, from Hardwick, near Abergavenny, south Wales, told the Daily Mail Mr Ainsworth should spend time on the front line to understand how desperate troops were for more men and equipment.
She said: "He hasn't got a clue. It makes me very angry when our top military commanders demand extra resources but nothing is forthcoming.
"The Army has been short-changed and the troops are suffering because of it. But the politicians are not listening to the troops on the ground.
"They've got to find more resources, better equipment and make sure there's enough of it."
She added: "Bob Ainsworth is being utterly delusional. For centuries people have been invading and fighting in Afghanistan. We have been kicked out twice and the Russians couldn't manage it.
"Unless Nato is completely co-ordinated, it is going to happen again. There needs to be a clear plan. Without one our soldiers will carry on dying.
"Bob Ainsworth has made some very silly comments in the past few days and he has only been in the job for five minutes. I think he is speaking too soon and out of turn. He has been stupid and arrogant."
Among the resources being demanded by commanders in the field are increased numbers of unmanned aerial drones which can be used to spot IEDs.
Gen Dannatt drew up a "shopping list" of requirements for troops in the field last month which was presented to Gordon Brown.
The outgoing chief of the general staff said a lot of work was going on to meet his demands, but he highlighted the need for measures to combat IEDs.
He told Channel 4 News: "Improvised explosive devices are a major issue at the moment.
"They are a major tactical battle that we have got to win and we need to roll out more equipment so that we have permanent 24/7 surveillance over the most difficult areas and so we can target the Taliban as they are laying these things."
Gen Dannatt, who stands down later this month, also predicted that British troops could be on the ground in Afghanistan for five years.
He acknowledged that it would take time before the Afghan forces would be trained and ready to take over from the British and other international forces currently in the country.
"We have got to get it right. It will take a bit of time. We will go on doing, as the military, what we need to do until the Afghan capability is good enough to take over from us," he told BBC News.
"That will continue for years. I don't want to put a figure on that, but certainly two to four years, three to five years, of this kind of level of commitment by the military."
The Ministry of Defence is due to confirm the identities of three soldiers form the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who were killed in a blast near Sangin on Sunday.
Yesterday the MoD released figures showing that 94 British troops were wounded in action last month - more than double the 46 injured in June.
Reader views (6)
Is it just me, or does Ainsworth look like he should have a peaked cap and a machine for handing out parking tickets?
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 18/08/2009 12:06
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Spot on! Stupid and arrogant sums up the gaggle of hypocrites languishing in the House of Conmen.
Peter Sellers had more talent and credibility than any MP, past or present.
OH! MP's are taking a leaf out of Sellers' book "I'M ALL RIGHT JACK".
MP's are all right and Joe Public can get lost.
- Reuben Camara, Principality of Morecambe, UK, 18/08/2009 10:39
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Ainsworth ought to be back on a factory floor where he belongs. It is an insult to our armed forces to have a defence secretary of his calibre.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 18/08/2009 10:30
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The Armed Forces have closer links to the Conservative Party - for example, IDS was an accomplished ex-Army Officer and son of a decorated RAF pilot - but despite the Government using the Army to rescue them in the BSE crisis, the fireman's strike and in countless photo-opportunities the Labour Government remains deeply suspicious of, and out of touch with, the people who they send to work in dangerous places without the proper kit. I don't think I've ever met anyone ex-Forces who would vote Labour: something I'm sure the Government has spotted too.
Some of the military decisions that have needed to be taken in the past decade would not have been easy for anyone to take: but mostly out of inverted-snobbery against the kind of person who is an ex-Army Officer and misconceptions as to what a Serviceman actually does, the public voted 3 times in succession for a celebrity-obsessed, God-bothering 'career politician' with no clear vision for Britain other than that it had to be 'cool'. Surely having such a person in charge of anything, let alone commanding an Army, was a mistake?
- Roz, France, 18/08/2009 09:53
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Does anyone else look at him and think of Peter Sellers in "I'm alright Jack"? He really does look as though there's a factory somewhere missing a shop floor steward.
- Bob, Cheam, 18/08/2009 09:01
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Question: Is Ainsworth a fool or a knave? Answer: He is certainly one or the other.
- Ted, London, 18/08/2009 08:12
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