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British military tells Obama not to dither as UN evacuates 600 workers
Nicholas Cecil, Deputy Political Editor5 Nov 2009
British military chiefs today urged President Obama not to dither over Afghanistan as the allied death toll continues to rise.
They called on Washington to get the Afghan mission firmly back on the front foot amid fears that it is "accelerating" towards failure.
Their call came as the UN started pulling 600 staff in Afghanistan out of the country or moving them to safer areas. A senior Ministry of Defence source told The Standard: "It's time for him to make a decision.
"Without any decision, there is a concern that the British public will lose faith."
With a poll for Channel 4 News showing support for the war plummeting, former defence secretary John Hutton said: "When you are in the middle of a campaign like this, you have got to make decisions promptly. You need a proper wartime mentality." General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, has been warning Mr Obama for weeks, if not months, that without a troop surge, the eight-year mission will "likely result in failure".
Lord Guthrie, former Chief of the Defence Staff in Britain, accused the President of pushing the war in Afghanistan to a "tipping point" with the delay over whether to deploy tens of thousands more American troops. Tory MP James Arbuthnot, chairman of the Commons defence select committee, said: "I was not expecting him to be taking quite this time. But it's probably the most difficult and most important decision that he has had to make in his life."
October was the bloodiest month in Afghanistan for US troops, with more than 50 deaths, and British forces have also suffered heavy losses in recent months. "While President Obama makes up his mind, British and American forces are still exposed to all the risks," said former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell.
The YouGov survey for Channel 4 News, taken after the death of the five British soldiers, shows only a third of Britons now believe the Taliban can be defeated, compared with 42 per cent two weeks ago. With 57 per cent believing the war is not winnable, compared with 48 per cent a fortnight ago, 35 per cent also say troops should be withdrawn earlier, up 10 points on last month.
Military expert Lord Ashdown warned that the Nato mission was failing at an "accelerating rate".
Armed forces minister Bill Rammell also admitted the killing of the British soldiers would have a "significant impact" on the trust between Allied and Afghan security forces. Only yesterday Labour MP Kim Howells, the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, called for the phased withdrawal of UK troops.
Janet Napolitano, US homeland security secretary, told the BBC: "President Obama is being very careful in his weighing up of what needs to be done in Afghanistan.
"There is no particular advantage of making a rush to judgment."
