bobdina
07-12-2010, 11:51 AM
Soldiers and Royal Marines told The Daily Telegraph last week that their lives were being endangered by the policy of "courageous restraint" introduced by Gen Stanley McChrystal to cut down the number of civilian casualties.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Lt Gen Sir Nick Parker said troops in more dangerous areas should be able to use "all the tools at their disposal".
Last month was the bloodiest since Nato troops entered Afghanistan in 2001, and it is understood that soldiers will be given more flexibility in using lethal force to defend themselves after some complained they were fighting with "one hand tied behind our backs".
"In some areas we have over-corrected and we have to absolutely make sure we bring that gently back into line," said the Deputy Commander ISAF (International Security Assistance Force).
"Our soldiers have to be committed to the very challenging fight that they are in, they have to have all the tools at their disposal and they have got to feel free to use them in the right way, but what we must do is not alienate the population.
"So we need to re-examine this and make sure that there has been no risk of overcorrecting. We have to ensure that we are allowing our people to have the right degree of manouevre on operations to deal with the circumstances they face."
But the general added that recent special forces operations that had been "extremely effective" in capturing or killing high-level Taliban and could force senior commanders to defect.
"What you have to have is effective operations that target the bad people.
"The effect, hopefully, is that they want to be reintegrated.
The operations, which have intensified over the last six months, are designed to "remove important people from the battlefield, to make conditions better for those living there and to make our troops' job easier, but also to undermine the coherency of the insurgency at higher levels."
Lt Gen Parker, speaking at his headquarters in Kabul, said it was a "hugely emotional" decision to remove British troops from Sangin, where his own son, an officer in The Rifles, suffered a double amputation, but it made military sense to concentrate troops in the more densely populated areas of central Helmand.
The general had to run Afghanistan for almost a month after Gen Stanley McChrystal was sacked by President Barack Obama for insubordination, a decision that came as a "deep shock".
"We were very sad that it happened but the extraordinary thing is that his plan was so effective that the platform was easily taken over by (Gen David) Petraeus."
The general, who has been in post for almost a year, said that while the campaign was "bloody hard work" it was his "professional belief" that progress was being made.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7884017/Britains-top-general-in-Afghanistan-admits-courageous-restraint-must-change.html
In an interview with the Telegraph, Lt Gen Sir Nick Parker said troops in more dangerous areas should be able to use "all the tools at their disposal".
Last month was the bloodiest since Nato troops entered Afghanistan in 2001, and it is understood that soldiers will be given more flexibility in using lethal force to defend themselves after some complained they were fighting with "one hand tied behind our backs".
"In some areas we have over-corrected and we have to absolutely make sure we bring that gently back into line," said the Deputy Commander ISAF (International Security Assistance Force).
"Our soldiers have to be committed to the very challenging fight that they are in, they have to have all the tools at their disposal and they have got to feel free to use them in the right way, but what we must do is not alienate the population.
"So we need to re-examine this and make sure that there has been no risk of overcorrecting. We have to ensure that we are allowing our people to have the right degree of manouevre on operations to deal with the circumstances they face."
But the general added that recent special forces operations that had been "extremely effective" in capturing or killing high-level Taliban and could force senior commanders to defect.
"What you have to have is effective operations that target the bad people.
"The effect, hopefully, is that they want to be reintegrated.
The operations, which have intensified over the last six months, are designed to "remove important people from the battlefield, to make conditions better for those living there and to make our troops' job easier, but also to undermine the coherency of the insurgency at higher levels."
Lt Gen Parker, speaking at his headquarters in Kabul, said it was a "hugely emotional" decision to remove British troops from Sangin, where his own son, an officer in The Rifles, suffered a double amputation, but it made military sense to concentrate troops in the more densely populated areas of central Helmand.
The general had to run Afghanistan for almost a month after Gen Stanley McChrystal was sacked by President Barack Obama for insubordination, a decision that came as a "deep shock".
"We were very sad that it happened but the extraordinary thing is that his plan was so effective that the platform was easily taken over by (Gen David) Petraeus."
The general, who has been in post for almost a year, said that while the campaign was "bloody hard work" it was his "professional belief" that progress was being made.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7884017/Britains-top-general-in-Afghanistan-admits-courageous-restraint-must-change.html