British troops must stay in Iraq as Nato dithers [View All]

[cal04]

The Army's long-heralded deployment to Afghanistan has been postponed by several months as other Nato countries dither over putting their troops in jeopardy. It means that, despite Tony Blair's hints during a visit to Basra before Christmas, there will be no substantial troop reductions in Iraq this year. Ministers must decide next week whether to take the risk of sending a larger force than was originally planned to Helmand province in south Afghanistan, putting even greater pressure on overstretched infantry battalions. That decision will be influenced by whether the Dutch parliament agrees to send 1,200 troops to Afghanistan as Nato moves into territory previously patrolled by the US.

If the Dutch refuse, the alliance will have to look elsewhere and there is a distant possibility that Britain's spearhead battalion, which can be deployed at very short notice, could plug the gap for six months. A spokesman for the Dutch defence ministry rated the chances of agreement on the deployment at "50-50". Members of 3 Para and a squadron of Apache helicopters have been training since the autumn and three ships loaded with stores and equipment have been tied up in Karachi waiting for the deployment to go ahead.

More than 300 troops, including special forces, are in Helmand preparing for the contingent's arrival. John Reid, the Defence Secretary, must win the agreement of colleagues at next week's Cabinet meeting to a force of almost 4,000 troops in Afghanistan. A Whitehall source said: "Potentially we could go it alone but this would need every minister's support and could easily become a hot potato." There is still great uncertainty over the precise role the troops will play and a lack of clarity over tackling the illicit opium economy. Defence chiefs have stated that the soldiers will not actively pursue the Taliban or al-Qa'eda terrorists and are there to protect "provincial reconstruction teams".

A Nato source said it was never easy to make up the numbers for missions in which there was a possibility of fighting terrorists. "Some nations are concerned about being too close to anti-terrorist operations and links with America," he said. "If the Dutch fail to provide the troops it will be a serious problem but we will find a way through it."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/17/wafg17.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_17012006