British MPs Set to Challenge Brown on Afghanistan

By ALICE RITCHIE

LONDON - British lawmakers on July 16 challenged Prime Minister Gordon Brown's claim that a lack of helicopters has not cost lives in Afghanistan, after a surge in deaths from the conflict.
A report from the parliamentary defense committee was expected to suggest that a larger fleet would allow troops to undertake operations by air rather than more dangerous missions on foot. According to the BBC and the Guardian newspaper, the committee was to call for an increase in the number of helicopters and training crews, arguing that upping the flying hours is no substitute for more aircraft. It also emerged on July 16 that the head of the British army, Gen. Richard Dannatt, had traveled in a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter during a recent visit to troops in the troubled southern Afghan province of Helmand. "If I moved in an American helicopter it's because I haven't got a British helicopter," he said. Brown told lawmakers on July 15 that while he lamented the recent loss of life in Afghanistan - eight soldiers died in 24 hours last week, taking the toll to 15 this month - "it's not to do with helicopters." "Yes, our military commanders will always want more equipment and rightly so, but yes also, Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defense forces, has said that our forces are better equipped than ever before," he said. Lawmakers were to have a chance to grill the prime minister when he appeared before a separate parliamentary committee on July 16. Many of Britain's 9,000 troops in Afghanistan are currently taking part in Operation Panther's Claw, a major assault against Taliban fighters in southern Helmand province ahead of presidential elections in August. Dannatt called on July 15 for more "boots on the ground" for the conflict, saying it did not matter which country provided the troops but they were vital for Afghan society to thrive. "Troop numbers is a relatively emotive issue. I have said before, we can have effect where we have boots on the ground," he told BBC radio from Sangin in Helmand during his last visit there before he retires. The death toll for British troops in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001 now stands at 184. Many of those killed have been hit by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that are hidden in the ground and are increasingly favored by insurgents. The Afghanistan death toll has now passed that of the Iraq campaign, where 179 people died, and includes the first army commander to die in operations since 1982 during the Falklands War. A funeral service will be held for Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards who was killed on July 1 near Lashkar Gah in Helmand, in London later Thursday. The head of the U.S. military, Adm. Michael Mullen, warned July 16 that Taliban militants in Afghanistan have grown more violent and better organized in recent years, and troops face "very difficult fighting" ahead. About 4,000 U.S. Marines are also involved in a separate operation in Helmand. The increase in British deaths has sparked fierce debate here over the mission's terms and conditions, ahead of a general election in Britain that must be held by the middle of next year.

Posted in: Afghanistan,Fighting Al Qaeda and Taliban