28 September 2009: Defence Management
British forces cannot be allowed to fail in Afghanistan and if the battle is lost it will be lost at home, Tory shadow defence secretary Dr Liam Fox has said, making him a definite 'no' in our current poll.
Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Fox stressed that the sooner Afghan security forces can be trained and on the frontline tackling the terrorists, the faster British troops can return home.
To help reinforce security on the ground, Fox called for a "bottom up solution for building up the Afghan national police to compliment [sic] our top down building of the Afghan National Army". To help achieve all of this, Conservatives would be "sympathetic" to an increase in the number of soldiers.
Fox said: "The government must provide all of the tools – soft and hard power, civilian and military – to be successful. If Afghanistan is lost, it will be lost at home by political leaders – not by our gallant men and women in the frontline. Failure is not an option."
