MPs carpet Cameron over Afghan war

The Defence Select Committee, chaired by Tory MP James Arbuthnot, is preparing to publish its findings into its Afghanistan inquiry within the next few weeks.

It has concluded the Coalition Government's haste to set an "absolute" date for departure has badly undermined the military campaign, Scotland on Sunday has learned.

In what is already being billed a hard-hitting report, chiefs of staff, including the former Chief of General Staff General Sir Mike Jackson, are expected to be heavily criticised for the push into Helmand province in 2006.

Cameron made a surprise announcement that troops would be pulled out of combat duty in Afghanistan at a summit in Toronto in June 2010, just a few weeks after he became Prime Minister.

Despite the Obama administration also indicating a timetable for withdrawal, the clear deadline set by the Prime Minister alarmed the US. Cameron agreed to slightly extend the stay in the war-torn country during the President's state visit to the UK last month.

But the committee believes the date set for withdrawal by Cameron - by the end of 2014, now extended to 2015 - has made it almost impossible to win the war and may also have undermined efforts to negotiate with the Taleban. The report is also likely to question the rationale of the timing, which some members believe was motivated by political reasons rather than strategic ones.

A committee member said: "The Taleban now have a calendar with a date on it when we are going to withdraw. They have a point to hold on to. If you look at our line of questioning, it is clear we believe that this absolute time- table set by the Prime Minister has seriously undermined any chance of winning this war."

Another MP noted: "The government seems to have altogether been in too much of a rush to pull out of Afghanistan or at least set a date for when it will happen."

Last night a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Transition does not mean the end of international support.

"Although UK forces will no longer be in a combat role or in the numbers they are now in Afghanistan by 2015, we will go on having a very strong relationship with Afghanistan based on diplomacy, trade, aid and development, and on training Afghan troops and building that capacity for the future."

The committee also intends to report at length on the ill-fated British intervention in Helmand and the confusion over who ordered the major extension of the campaign just as Britain was reducing its commitment in Iraq.

The push in Helmand was the most controversial operation in the Afghan campaign and cost the lives of more than 250 soldiers, with more than 100 dying in Sangin province. The operation has already been criticised for not being properly resourced. In particular, a shortage of helicopters left British troops exposed to road side bombs.

It is understood that the committee believes the decision to push into Helmand was taken by the service chiefs and particularly Jackson.

The former commander-in-chief is to be criticised for what one MP dubbed his "amnesiac appearance" before the committee in March.

"He [Jackson] seemed unable to remember anything," the MP added.

MPs have also taken exception to attempts by Jackson and others to blame Brigadier Ed Butler, who was in charge on the ground, for launching the operation.

Also of concern is the apparent lack of discussion beforehand by government ministers, with evidence suggesting that former defence secretary John Reid had opposed the operation up to five weeks before it was launched.

"We can find no evidence at all of any discussion about the operation in the Cabinet," one committee member said. "That's extremely worrying when you consider the loss of life and the major commitment for the Britain that the push into Helmand represented."

The previous Labour government will also be criticised in the report, for losing its focus on Afghanistan and being distracted by the Iraq conflict.

Jackson was unavailable for comment yesterday.