The evidence of Ed Butler, who commanded 16 Air Assault Brigade in Helmand in 2006, to the Defence Select Committee yesterday was devastating. As The Times reports:
“Brigadier Butler told the committee that in 2006 the Treasury had “capped” resources available for the operation, limiting funding to £1.3 billion for a “three-year campaign”. The Government has always denied imposing a cap on resources for the mission. “There was a Treasury-imposed cap on the number of troops we could have in Afghanistan,” he said.
With the troops available to him — 3,300 — “we could just about hold the line but we couldn’t sustain a higher tempo”. Brigadier Butler said he was visited by numerous ministers during his tour of command but not once by a Treasury minister.
The financial constraints resulted in a severe shortage of helicopters in the field and seriously hampered the ability of British forces to cover the ground, Brigadier Butler said.
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