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500 extra troops for Helmand after Brown U-turn
Ross Lydall7 Oct 2009
An extra 500 British soldiers are expected to be sent to Afghanistan as Gordon Brown looks to stamp-down suggestions that he is not fully committed to the war.
A decision is expected in the next week after the former head of the Army claimed the Prime Minister had rejected his demands for an uplift of 2,000 troops earlier this year.
The move would take the size of the UK deployment to 9,500 as US president Barack Obama prepares to unveil a new strategy on Afghanistan as the war enters its ninth year.
Mr Obama yesterday summoned a cross-party delegation of senators and congressmen to the White House to prepare for an expected surge of between 20,000 and 40,000 US forces.
The US deployment is the largest by far in the Nato coalition, with 68,000 personnel on the ground. Both the US and Britain, which has the second largest deployment, have been demanding for some time that other Nato allies play a bigger role in fighting the Taliban.
Ministry of Defence sources were reported today to be indicating that between 500 and 1,000 more soldiers are about to be deployed by Mr Brown.
Retired general Sir Richard Dannatt has claimed that British soldiers were left to fight with “part of one arm” tied behind their back because of a shortage of troops. Downing Street said that any suggestion Mr Brown had unwilling to deploy more soldiers or provide the necessary resources was “simply wrong”.
The Prime Minister was said to have held discussions at Chequers on Sunday with the new head of the Army, General Sir David Richards, at which a series of options drawn up by military commanders for an increase of up to 1,000 troops was presented.
One Whitehall source told the Independent that Mr Brown was “strongly veering” towards a fresh deployment. The source said: “Senior officers, like General Richards, have been trying hard to convince ministers that having more troops on the ground provides its own security dimension and they appear to be making a convincing case for this. The final decision should come pretty soon.”
The MoD today said that British numbers were always due to be reviewed at the conclusion of the Afghan presidential election, for which numbers were boosted from 8,400 to 9,100 for the Operation Panther's Claw summer offensive in Helmand province.
This resulted in heavy casualties, with the British death toll now standing at 220.
Reader views (5)
A General Custer situation. Too few, and vastly underestimating the enemy! If Brown had gumption and was a man of principle, he would send either 10,000 more troops or he would send zero more troops. To send 500 when a general has publicly said that anything less than 2,000 is a waste of time is the action of a man without principle -- a ditherer, a want-it-all-ways man.
- Phil Jones, London UK, 07/10/2009 14:55
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TOO FEW, TOO LATE .
- Alan Green, England. The forgotten country., 07/10/2009 12:26
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This isn't one of your normal botched policies Mr Brown. You are sending these troops into a potentially fatal situation. You have to believe in what you are doing. When some of these soldiers die you must be able to know that your decision was based on conviction and not perceived public opinion, otherwise how can you live with yourself.
- Alex C, London, 07/10/2009 12:22
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So- the lives of our UK troops are to be sacrificed for the vanity of G.W.Bush and Tony Blair who left us with this nightmare.As for the "Special Relationship" betwween the UK & US ? Can some genius tell me why the US has refused ever to send a single witness to a UK Coroners Court for 'friendly fire' incidents. This has resulted in families and widows being denied death pensions because of delays in issueng a death certificate for YEARS. Sod the Yanks!
- Frank, Bristol, 07/10/2009 11:49
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So Brown again proves that he will not do anything unless he is pushed by the media into making a populist decision. He has no conviction other than the one to hold onto power at any cost.
- Mark, London, 07/10/2009 10:22
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