| Subject |
Tobias
Ellwood MP calls for better equipment and reinforcements to
be sent to face the Taliban
|
| Ref |
PR/06-146 |
| Date |
Monday
3rd July 2006 |
Tobias Ellwood
who recently visited Helmand Province is calling on the Government
to send more troops to Afghanistan including mechanised infantry
(Warrior) units.
Tobias believes
that the Government underestimated the capability and threat posed
by the Taliban in the north of the province and that reliance on
the ageing 'Snatch' Landover, a relic of Northern Ireland troubles,
is wholly inadequate for the dangerous conditions in which British
forces now find themselves.
Tobias said
"I understand not one Warrior has been deployed to Afghanistan,
despite the fact that it was designed to protect our troops from
IED attacks and small arms fire. In addition I believe the Warrior's
30mm Rarden Cannon would be a useful asset considering the scale
of the enemy we are now facing. Sandbags will not protect our troops
but Warrior tanks will.
If we make the
honourable decision to send troops to Afghanistan it is completely
dishonourable of the Government to send them ill-equipped. We must
adapt to the new circumstances in which we find ourselves and answer
the call for more resources. To ignore this plea is a failure of
duty."
ISAF's shortfall
in resources was made apparent when Tobias visited Kandahar and
LashKar Ga with General James Jones, NATO's most senior general
(SACEUR), and General Richards, Commander of ISAF. Both generals
were frustrated with the lack of air support (heavy lift and helicopter)
offered by NATO countries as well as the shortage of manpower to
manage ISAF's new responsibilities. So over-stretched is ISAF that
the Nimroz Province (which neighbours Halmand) does not have a single
NATO soldier in it and no doubt harbours as many Taliban forces
as Halmand. British forces, pre-occupied with clashes in the north
of the province, have yet to enter the 150 mile area south of Lashka
Ga to the Pakistani border; the very area where opium is being smuggled
by the warlords that ends up on the streets in the UK.
Aside from concerns
over security, equally frustrating is the lack of co-ordination
between international development organisations. Over £600m
was spent tackling the narcotics trade yet they still managed to
export their largest crop (4,100 tonnes) ever. International bodies
including UN, EU, DifD, US AID, FCO and a myriad of embassies pursue
individual projects, sometimes in conflict of each other. There
is no proper organisational plan to tackle the poppy trade and £millions
is being wasted in the absence of a senior UN mandated coordinator
with the authority to direct strategy and choose how international
funds are spent.
The British
Government needs to reconsider its strategy and improve its commitment
to Afghanistan. It must commit more resources to strengthen the
fragile umbrella of security that we are trying to create and improve
the reconstruction efforts that should be taking place at the same
time. If we fail on the first account, peace will not prevail long
enough for life changing, long term reconstruction to take place.
If we fail on the second, then Afghanistan will be in no better
position than when we first arrived.
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