The Lies Ministers told over Afghanistan

Last week’s attacks by two separate coroners on the MoD’s failure to provide troops in Afghanistan and Iraq with essential equipment diverted attention away from the full import of the board of inquiry report into the death of Capt Jim Philippson, the first British soldier to be killed in action in Helmand. The contents of this hard hitting report should not be allowed to pass unnoticed, not least because it heaps the blame for much of what went wrong on Gordon Brown’s Treasury and the then defence secretary John Reid, as well as providing yet more evidence of ministers’ willingness to play fast and loose with the truth, even in their evidence to MPs.

Ministers repeatedly insisted throughout the deployment that the government was sending as many troops to Afghanistan as commanders on the ground wanted. But the inquiry revealed that Reid insisted commanders send no more than 3,150 men, a figure the inquiry said could only be justified on “best case rather than the most likely or worst case planning assumptions” and took little account of what the Taliban might do (er... bit of a problem surely?).

The main problems for the British troops were caused not just by the 3,150 troop cap but by what the board openly describes, in language highly unusual for a military report, as “political machinations”, with Reid delaying the announcement of the deployment for two months. “The MoD and the Treasury were unwilling to commit funds to urgent operational requirements enhancements prior to any formal political announcement,” the inquiry said. “As a result, many key items of equipment arrived in theatre late and some even failed to meet the deployment at all.”

Preparations for the deployment were therefore “inhibited by the lack of early formal political direction and a strictly enforced manning cap” on the number of troops. The delays not only prevented the troops from getting vital equipment but also severely hampered pre-deployment training. “From a campaign-planning perspective, the strict manning cap of 3,150 imposed by ministers and the delay in authorising the deployment and the resource constraints that the army operates under generally, placed the Helmand Task Force under considerable pressure from the outset,” the board said.

The problems caused by the shortage of troops are still with us. Despite an increase in the numbers of UK troops to more than 7,000, they remain too few to be able to hold land that they have taken from the Taliban. They therefore have to pull out and watch as the Taliban retake the ground that British troops fought so hard, and in all too many cases died, to occupy. Does this make any sense at all?

Going back to the porkies that ministers repeatedly told us about how the numbers of troops on the ground would be precisely those asked for by commanders, I was going to point out that the one thing that could be said in this case, since Reid was then in charge, was that unlike his bogus claims about the increase in the defence budget, Swiss Toni’s hands were clean. (For new readers unaware why I am talking about the Fast Show's dodgy car salesman, I should point out that the forces have dubbed the current defence secretary Swiss Toni.) Sadly, I have since discovered that even here, he could not be trusted to tell the truth.

I give you the right honourable Des Browne, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Defence, who told Parliament on 10th July 2006: “When we began to deploy in February, continuing until 1 July when full operational capability was reached, we sent the force package for which the military commanders had asked.” The Fast Show's Swiss Toni is famous for saying that any problem is “like making love to a beautiful woman”. Presumably in this particular case, “sending military commanders to Afghanistan is like making love to beautiful women. You tell them they can have anything they want and then you leave them f**ked.”

Comments

[Christopher Kern]

It's a shame how the government betrays the people and the soldiers. Those politicians should finally make up their mind if they want the UK to be a global player in military matters or not. They clearly say "Yes" but what they do looks very much like "No". They cut back the navy, the army, the air force and than tell the people that the forces have everything they need for the missions - are they joking??? The men and women are doing a great job down there in Afghanistan and all they get from their government is lies! How many soldiers have to die until the government recognises that fine words don't improve the situation at all???

[William29]

Yesterday yet another young soldier lost his life, no doubt a very proud young man, a Green Howard, (2nd Bn Yorkshire Regt). most of us never met him- but we all knew him. When tactics on the battlefield have to be modified to suit manpower constraints we are discarding painful lessons learned over many years. I will mention just one - "The skillful use of a tactical reserve can swing a battle your way" - a reserve we have not got. Service is a concept beyond the ken of our political masters, no expense acccounts, 2nd mortages (paid by the taxpayer) free travel, freeloader pensions and free scoff, for these young men and women. My thoughts are with the young mans families his natural family and his Regimental family, an old soldier once told me "a good infantryman never looks over his shoulder, he knows what he will see" !

[W29]

Surprised that the School of Infantry is still in Warminster, no room in the Treasury obviously !