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21/08/2008
Brown Praises 'Olympic' Effort Of British Troops At Camp Bastion
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made a surprise trip to Afghanistan on route to the Olympics in Beijing.
Mr Brown likened the achievements of the British forces to the UK's Olympic medallists in Beijing.
He told troops at Camp Bastion during a 90-minute visit that they were "the heroes of our country" and that members of 16 Air Assault Brigade were in the "front line in the fight against the Taleban".
"You know that by what you are doing here you prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.
"You make our country proud every day of the week and every week of the year. You are heroes of our country. I wish to say how proud I am of you today," he said.
"This week we are celebrating the Olympics where we have had great success," he said.
"I believe that our Olympic athletes and everybody else in our country will remember that you have showed exactly the same courage, professionalism and dedication."
The Prime Minister also paid tribute to Corporal Barry Dempsey, the latest casualty of the violence.
Mr Brown has also held talks in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In a joint press conference Mr Brown said that troop deaths had been a tragedy but the events had only made the "even more resolute to defeat the forces of terrorism".
The Prime Minister added that "there was still a long way to go" but that Britain would put more resources into training the Afghan national army, which "may need to be doubled to 120,000" and developing a new Afghan civil service.
He added that £17 million would go towards funding a radio station to counter the Taleban's message.
About 5,000 troops are based in Camp Bastion where Lieutenant Colonel David Reynolds said in a recent interview that "keeping support for the mission is difficult" and "we're here to make sure the bad guys, al-Qaeda, don't have the ability to take refuge in any shape or form".
Since 2001, 116 UK troops have died in Afghanistan.
Mr Brown's visit comes a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited his own forces in the capital and met with some of the 21 paratroopers who were wounded in the fighting on August 18 and 19.
See: Belfast To Celebrate Returning Heroes
(DS)
Mr Brown likened the achievements of the British forces to the UK's Olympic medallists in Beijing.
He told troops at Camp Bastion during a 90-minute visit that they were "the heroes of our country" and that members of 16 Air Assault Brigade were in the "front line in the fight against the Taleban".
"You know that by what you are doing here you prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.
"You make our country proud every day of the week and every week of the year. You are heroes of our country. I wish to say how proud I am of you today," he said.
"This week we are celebrating the Olympics where we have had great success," he said.
"I believe that our Olympic athletes and everybody else in our country will remember that you have showed exactly the same courage, professionalism and dedication."
The Prime Minister also paid tribute to Corporal Barry Dempsey, the latest casualty of the violence.
Mr Brown has also held talks in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In a joint press conference Mr Brown said that troop deaths had been a tragedy but the events had only made the "even more resolute to defeat the forces of terrorism".
The Prime Minister added that "there was still a long way to go" but that Britain would put more resources into training the Afghan national army, which "may need to be doubled to 120,000" and developing a new Afghan civil service.
He added that £17 million would go towards funding a radio station to counter the Taleban's message.
About 5,000 troops are based in Camp Bastion where Lieutenant Colonel David Reynolds said in a recent interview that "keeping support for the mission is difficult" and "we're here to make sure the bad guys, al-Qaeda, don't have the ability to take refuge in any shape or form".
Since 2001, 116 UK troops have died in Afghanistan.
Mr Brown's visit comes a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited his own forces in the capital and met with some of the 21 paratroopers who were wounded in the fighting on August 18 and 19.
See: Belfast To Celebrate Returning Heroes
(DS)
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