FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has said Britain should consider withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
His message was one of the strongest yet from a leader of any political party, signalling the hardening of the stance on the war, and it followed a BBC poll which showed nearly two thirds of British people – 64 per cent – believed that the war was "u
nwinnable".
Of those surveyed, 63 per cent called for a withdrawal as soon as possible, while 43 per cent said they did not understand the purpose of the war.
Mr Salmond said: "I'm not surprised by the findings, because what you've got among the public is a combination of great support for the troops on the ground, as you would expect, but no confidence whatsoever in the government's strategy in pursuing the conflict. There has to be the fundamental reassessment of the role, mission, strategy. Nothing should be off the table. That should include the possibility of a withdrawal."
Meanwhile, in a frank interview, Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of defence staff, also acknowledged that many people did not believe the war was winnable.
"I do think it is incredibly important that we do better at describing to people the success that we are having, to demonstrate that over the long term that this is do-able. I don't think we have been nearly good enough," he said.
He signalled that, despite growing opposition, British troops were likely to remain on combat duties in the region for at least four or five years.
This was slightly longer than the US commander General Stanley McChrystal was predicting – a forecast Sir Jock said was "a little optimistic".
He denied reports that troops would retreat from the bloody battle site of Musa Qala, but he admitted that there was some frustration with the Obama administration's delay in deciding whether to send an additional 40,000 troops, warning that the entire current strategy hinged on the extra support.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown also added his support to the mission, saying the war was vital in dealing with the threat of terrorism.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said British military involvement in Afghanistan could not be determined by public opinion.
"British public opinion has been dented by the level of losses that we have received but we cannot run a campaign like this off the back of an opinion poll," he said.
"We have to persevere, we have to show some resolution. This campaign is directly connected to our safety back here in the United Kingdom. Failure will be a disaster for us."
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox agreed that Britain should not immediately withdraw.
Dr Fox said: "If we were seen to be forced out of Afghanistan by public opinion, what message would that send to the men of violence?
"This is about how we are perceived to deal with fundamental threats, fundamental trans- national terrorism which sooner or later is likely to affect us."
