Brown visits Afghanistan amid equipment row

After an appearance at Britain’s Iraq war inquiry dubbed “disingenuous” by critics, Premier Gordon Brown has flown to Afghanistan to tour a recently captured Taliban stronghold.

With just three months to the general elections, Saturday’s trip comes at a troubled time for Brown, who is facing accusations of risking the lives of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by denying the military necessary funds to provide forces with proper equipment.

British troops have recently joined US and Afghan forces in an all out battle with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

Brown sought to assure British soldiers in Laskhar Gah, the capital of volatile Helmand Province, that they would have the support of his government. “We will do everything we can to support you with the equipment necessary and the resources you need.”

Appearing before the independent Iraq Inquiry on Friday, Brown stressed that as finance minister he had given the military everything it asked for.

Some former military chiefs, however, strongly reject his statements, and some officials are calling for the publication of treasury records.

“He’s being disingenuous. It’s just not the case that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) was given everything it needed…There may have been a 1.5 percent increase in the defense budget but the MoD was starved of funds,” former defense chief Admiral Lord Boyce said.

This is while the families of the soldiers killed in Iraq while riding light armored vehicles are still trying to hold the government to account for the use of Snatch Land Rover trucks.

Other military chiefs and advisors have highlighted a “fatal” lack of life-saving helicopters that could ease mobilizing troops and gear.