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British Army chief defends Afghanistan mission after 'exhaustion' claim
London, Aug 6, 2006 The chief of the British Army defended the military operation in Afghanistan after it was reported Sunday that soldiers there were being stretched to "the brink of exhaustion" by the Taliban. General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, said that British troops were "getting stuck in" to militia from the deposed Taliban regime and said the soldiers' presence was vital for rebuilding the country. He was reacting after an unnamed senior officer told The Sunday Telegraph that troops were extremely tired as they battled Taliban militia and the fierce heat. "The men are knackered -- they are on the brink of exhaustion," the source told the weekly newspaper. "They are under considerable duress and have suffered great hardship. "This is a situation which is ultimately unsustainable. The shock of battle, the lack of sleep and back-to-back operations are beginning to impact on the troops." The newspaper said commanders on the ground wanted an extra 1,000 soldiers. Britain sent 3,600 troops to the restive southern province of Helmand earlier this year and announced last month that a further 900 would be dispatched. Nine British soldiers have been killed in Helmand in the last two months. But Jackson told BBC television: "We, the international community, must be doing what we're doing in Afghanistan. "We cannot afford to let that country go back to where it was, as a safe haven for international terrorism. That is simply unacceptable. "The notion that somehow the Taliban in southern Afghanistan would not react to a much-increased international military presence seems to me to be very ill-founded indeed. They were bound to react and they have done." He added: "We are getting stuck in. "The other side of that coin is that in which case, don't do this at all, let the Taliban take over Afghanistan again, let Al-Qaeda have another safe haven there." The main opposition Conservatives weighed in, with homeland security spokesman Patrick Mercer saying it was "completely incomprehensible" that more troops were not on the way to Afghanistan. Leader David Cameron, who recently visited troops in Afghanistan, told BBC radio: "I am not saying necessarily that there should be far more troops sent, but a number of people said that there really is such a need for helicopters and military aircraft to make sure we are a really mobile force." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Nuclear Space Technology at Space-Travel.com
Iraq war protestor Sheehan targets Bush again
Crawford, Texas, Aug 6, 2006 Fresh from meeting Iraqi opposition figures in Jordan, war protestor Cindy Sheehan was back in US President George W. Bush's backyard Sunday hoping to tell him in person to call US forces home. |
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