LONDON, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The British government on
Sunday rejected claims that its military mission in Afghanistan was undermined
by a failure to provide the army force with clear direction.
British responsibility in Afghanistan have been
abstracted by unrealistic planning at senior levels and poor coordination
between government departments, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee
said in a report published on Sunday.
"We
recommend that in the immediate future the government should refocus its efforts
to concentrate its limited resources on one priority, namely security," the
committee said.
The efforts to take a "comprehensive approach"
linking security with development and governance in south Afghanistan were
"faltering" and a growing list of responsibilities, including anti-drug fights,
human rights and reconstructing seems too much for British military, the report
said.
However, British Defense Minister Bill Rammell was
quoted by Britain's Sky news as saying that "We are focused on security and I
think, with respect, the Foreign Affairs Committee is a bit behind the game."
"It has always been about security, and indeed our
revised strategy from earlier this year very effectively makes that point," he
said.
Rammell rejected the claim that Britain's
counter-narcotics responsibilities were distracting from the main military
mission in Afghanistan. "I think the Foreign Affairs Committee wildly overstates
the amount of resource we are putting into the drugs fight," he said.
British troops suffered their highest casualty rate
of 22 fatalities in July since the force began its deployment in 2001.
A latest poll showed that most British people oppose
sending extra troops to Afghanistan and want to withdraw British troops from the
country immediately.
