Bishop: Afghan war must end soon
By Simon Caldwell

13 November 2009

The British fatalities of the war in Afghanistan are honoured in this Remembrance Sunday display PA Photos

A bishop has urged the Government to properly equip British forces serving in Afghanistan and to devise a strategy to bring a swift end to the eight-year conflict.

Bishop Richard Moth of the Forces added to pressure on the Government either to defeat the Taliban insurgency or to withdraw British troops. "Today, surely, our minds must go to Afghanistan, where our Armed Services are again placed in harm's way," the bishop said during a Mass in Westminster Cathedral, London, on Remembrance Sunday. "Each day, it seems, more names are added to the list of those who have lost their lives." "While there is no such thing as war without risk, those currently serving deserve all the necessary support and resources they need to fulfil the task they have been given in such a way that this risk is reduced as much as possible."

"Diplomatic solutions must continue to be sought, alongside the armed operation, so that a resolution can be brought about as speedily as possible." He said: "The death of a loved one is never easy to bear - but when life is lost at a young age, far from home and family, it is all the more difficult to accept.

"Even though the cause for which the service man or woman died may be a just one, the suffering of family and friends is indeed great." He added: "I ask that there be an ever-growing awareness, in every place in society and in every home in this nation, of the needs of our service personnel and their families."

The bishop's remarks will inevitably be interpreted as implicit criticism of the alleged failure of the Government to properly arm and equip servicemen and women for the mission in Afghanistan.

They come just a month after it was revealed that the most senior British soldier to be killed in the war foreshadowed his own death in a damning memo about the shortage of helicopters.

Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 39, commander of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, told his superiors that British troops would die because they were being forced to make trips by road because there were too few helicopters, with many existing aircraft "unfit for purpose", and less than a month later he was blown up by a roadside bomb.

Two senior officers have quit in recent months in protest at alleged bureaucratic incompetence and kit shortages.

The words of Bishop Moth will also add to mounting pressure on ministers to justify publicly the continuation and conduct of a war that grew more controversial last week when five soldiers were shot dead by a rogue Afghanistan police officer.

Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup has indicated that forces are likely to be embedded in Afghanistan until 2014 at the earliest.

But a ComRes survey carried out for the BBC One Politics Show on Sunday showed that 64 per cent of voters now felt that the war was "unwinnable" and 63 per cent said troops must be withdrawn immediately. The deaths of two soldiers in Helmand last weekend took the British death toll in Afghanistan to 232 since 2001.

Military top brass remain convinced of the justice of their cause, however. Lt Gen Jim Dutton told the BBC that the Afghanistan mission "is worth some soldiers having to die for because the consequences of it going wrong are far greater".

His views were echoed by Catholic Labour MP Jim Dobbin, who said any early withdrawal could further destabilise neighbouring Pakistan, which is also being attacked by the Taliban and its allies. "It would an opportunity for al-Qaeda and the Taliban to have better control and cause even more chaos in Pakistan because the government there is very fragile," said the Middleton and Heywood MP.

"I think it would be fatal if we walked away." But other Catholic MPs were sceptical about the continuation of British involvement. Joe Benton, Labour MP for Bootle, said: " I have very, very strong reservations about the action we are taking at the moment.

"It is questionable if this war is winnable. I have very serious doubts about the morality of the war. On balance, if I was given the choice, I would look towards withdrawal... I am coming to the conclusion that we won't resolve it through this action."

He said he had the "clear impression" that rising numbers of MPs also felt unhappy about the conduct of the war.

"I think it will not be too long before a request comes from all parties to debate it and eventually to vote on it," said Mr Benton. "Events there are just horrendous."

David Amess, the Conservative MP for Southend West, said he had been concerned about the war from the outset. "I feel that the Government has not proven the case for us being there," he said.

But Professor Nigel Biggar, an Oxford University theologian and expert on just war theory, argued that British involvement in Afghanistan could be morally justified.

"There is a connection between keeping the Taliban out of Afghanistan and keeping the streets of Britain safe," said Prof Biggar, an Anglican. "There is a very strong reason why we are there but I feel the Government representation of the case to be feeble. If it is important that we are there then Washington and London need to get a grip and do what it takes."