Pressure grows for vote on Afghan war
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Your support makes all the difference.THE CHALLENGE to Gordon Brown's authority from within his own party grew last night as four former ministers joined calls for a Commons vote on the war in Afghanistan. They are pressing for an early parliamentary debate on Britain's military role and objectives in the country, and timetable for pulling out of the region.
The move is being led by Frank Field, the former social security minister, and backed by a number of Labour memberes including Kim Howells, the former Foreign Office minister, Peter Kilfoyle, the former armed forces minister, and Kate Hoey, the former sports minister.
Mr Howells, who had ministerial responsibility for the country until 2008, last week called for the phased withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.
Mr Brown told MPs yesterday that he expected an announcement from President Barack Obama in the next few days about the number of extra US troops being deployed to Afghanistan. But his forecast was played down by a White House spokesman, who said the decision on the the request for 40,000 more troops from General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, was still "weeks and not days" away.
Mr Brown has committed Britain to sending another 500 soldiers to reinforce the 9,000 already there, but a date for their deployment has yet to be set. The Prime Minister said Britain was the first country to agree to send more troops for the "next stage of the mission" and repeated that the Government was trying to persuade other nations to follow suit. Asked about the equipment supplied to UK forces, Mr Brown replied: "I have an assurance from the chiefs of staff that every one of our armed forces who serve in Afghanistan are, and will be, fully equipped." The Prime Minister said he was also talking to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to make sure there were "large numbers of Afghan troops recruited" for training by British forces.
Gerald Howarth, a shadow Defence minister, said he had received an email from a colleague of Corporal Steven Boote, one of the soldiers shot dead by a rogue Afghan police officer last week, expressing "devastation" at the loss but also saying: "We are winning in the job we're doing out here."
Mr Howarth told the Prime Minister: "Will you please ensure that you and your Government get that positive message across to the media and the British people of what our fantastic troops are doing out in the field as we speak."
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