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Since its launch in 2001, the number of British military personal in the NATO-led force has risen, currently standing at around 10,000; a tenth of the US presence, but otherwise the largest contributor to the allied force. There has been protest in the UK since the invasion began, but as UK troops face a death rate almost four times higher than their US counterparts, the pressure is building on the British government to take action.
As the BBC Security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says, the “clock of public impatience” over Britain’s presence in the Middle Eastern country is ticking louder than ever before.
The deaths of the Marines in Sangin District, Helmand Province, have fallen in quick succession over the weekend and into this week, enforcing the trend of an increasing military death rate in the region. In the first seven years of conflict, the UK troops’ death toll barely reached above 100; yet since 2008, the number of deaths has climbed significantly; although 34 of these deaths were non-combat related.
The situation in Afghanistan is as hot as ever with protestors at home. As tensions rise, the Stop the War Coalition demonstrated outside Downing Street on Tuesday, after the death of the 300th British soldier killed in Afghanistan was announced.
In response to increasing pressure on this issue, the Prime Minister has responded with a statement explaining that British troops will only be able to withdraw once the Afghan government can be responsible for the safety of its own people. At this moment, this point has not been reached, and so British troops must remain.
Unsatisfied, however, Robin Hollington, the father of Marine Hollington who died whilst under hospital care on Sunday, has demanded a personal explanation from none other than David Cameron himself, as to why UK troops are continuing their involvement in Afghanistan.
At the same time, there is also increasing pressure on Britain to remain in the region, put on by the withdrawal of other countries from the alliance-led forces. Gardner believes that the Dutch and Canadian forces are “on their way out”, and the US President has pledged to begin the withdrawal of American troops by this time next year.
Predictably, David Miliband, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, has criticised the government on this matter, maintaining that a “clear strategy” needs to be found, in order to solve our problematic involvement in Afghanistan.
President Obama is facing his own difficulties with Afghanistan, since General Stanley McChrystal, former leading US commander of the troops in Afghanistan, was quoted as openly criticising senior members of Obama’s administration over Afghanistan. McChrystal has since been dismissed by Obama and replaced by General David Petraeus. Obama has stated that McChrystal did not meet the “standard” required by a top commander, and that the dismissal was not “personal”.
A commenter on the BBC website, in response to the question of whether UK troops should withdraw from the unstable country, admitted that a retreat at this present moment in time could mean that the 301 fatalities incurred so far have been in vain, and their sacrifice devalued.
As it is, it looks as though British involvement in Afghanistan is far from over. David Cameron has summarised his policy as taking the “the faster we succeed, the faster we can come home” approach. Yet criticism continues to build as the occupation appears to spiral into stasis, with the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, emphasising that a strategic breakthrough by NATO by the end of the year is essential for morale, both at home and abroad.
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