By Vanessa and Monika
The British troops are claiming that they have been denied the use of sufficient equipment because of the lack of funds from the treasury when Gordon Brown was Chancellor. Most British soldiers believe they are fighting in Afghanistan to reduce terrorism and overthrow the Taliban to help establish a Democratic Society, but think that the government have been more generous in other areas of expenditure.
Sir Graeme warned that the Armed forces were increasingly being viewed as ‘not a priority’ to the British government and beginning to be seen as irrelevant by the public and politicians. He gave an example of a situation that arose because of a lack of equipment. which included a former soldier-turned author, Andy McNab. Back in 1991 when troops were in Iran, helicopters were not equipped with basic Vietnam-Era kit, infra-red devices which allowed pilots to see at night, meaning that the eight-man patrol was left on the ground, surrounded, and at the mercy of Saddam Hussein’s Army. This patrol included the soldier turned author,Andy McNab. Three men were left dead. In 2001, a decade later, helicopters were still not equipped with the infra-red device. This almost lead to the loss of two Chinooks as Special Forces tried to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan. This was his example of a military that could do nothing more than create a temporary fix.
So far, there have been approximately 272 lives lost in the Afghan war, and some of the commanding officers and general public say, if the Forces had been granted with the equipment requested, troops would have been able to avoid some of the many deaths. Sources say that “some soldiers would still be alive today, had they been granted with the right equipment.” Recently, the deaths of Cpl Sarah Bryant (first woman soldier to be killed in Afghanistan), Cpl Sean Reeve, L/Cpl Richard Larkin and Trooper Paul Stout in 2008, have been brought to our attention as their deaths could have been avoided, if a request hadn’t been denied. The commander of the four soldiers requested for their Snatch Land Rover to be replaced, as they had been forced to use the Snatch due to vehicle shortages. The request was denied. The soldiers were killed because of a roadside bomb exploding in Helmand Provence. Parents of Trooper Stout, 31, said ‘Lessons must be learnt from this tragedy.’