Brown 'refused Afghanistan troop surge'
Updated on 06 October 2009
The former head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has claimed the prime minister turned down his request for a further 2,000 British troops in Afghanistan.
General Dannatt is taking up a new role as constable of the Tower of London, but he described a lack of ministerial support in his previous job in a newspaper interview.
Sir Richard revealed he asked Gordon Brown to increase the number of British soldiers fighting the Taliban earlier this year because he feels the Army has "at least part of one arm" tied behind its back.
He said: "The military advice has been for an uplift since the beginning of 2009. If the military says we need more troops and we can supply them, then frankly they should take that advice and deploy up to the level we recommend.
"If it means finding more resources and putting more energy in, let's do it.
"If you're going to conduct an operation, you're doing it for a reason - to succeed.
"Don't let's do it with at least part of one arm tied behind one's back."
"That said, we have gone from 8,000 to 9,000 this year - albeit with 700 as a temporary surge."
