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Lord Ashdown claims British soldiers' lives are being 'wasted' in Afghanistan
Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, has accused ministers of "wasting the lives" of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
He said that the international community had failed to implement a plan which could deliver peace and stability in the country, robbing troops of the opportunity to take advantage of their military victories over the Taliban.
Lord Ashdown, who said that insufficient military and aid resources had been committed to Afghanistan, warned that a resolution of the country's problems would not be reached without better international co-ordination and a regional agreement involving major powers like the US and China and neighbouring states including Iran.
He said: "I fear that we are now - and it is a scandal - wasting the lives of our young men and women who we are putting in the front line in the most difficult circumstances when our political leaders have failed to produce any kind of plan that can take advantage of the victories they win over the Taliban at great cost.
"It is a very grave concern, but if you speak to senior commanders in Afghanistan, you will find they are saying the same thing.
"They are winning the battle, often at great cost in death and mutilation of our soldiers, but I am afraid to say the international community has completely failed to take advantage of the victories they have gained.
"Until we put that together, we will not begin to turn the situation around."
Lord Ashdown, the international community's former representative in Bosnia, welcomed US President Barack Obama's decision to appoint veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke - with whom he worked in the Balkans - as his "point man" on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He also backed Mr Obama's plan to deliver a "surge" in US troops to the central Asian country, but warned that on its own this was not enough.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai last year blocked a plan to appoint Lord Ashdown as UN representative in the country.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday, Lord Ashdown said Mr Karzai was not to blame for the failure to make progress in Afghanistan, as he was having to cope with conflicting demands from different states with military and humanitarian commitments in the country.
He said: "The truth of the matter is that the issue there is not the failure of the Afghan Government. The issue is the complete failure of the international community to have a plan and have priorities."
Lord Ashdown said that the international community was trying to stabilise Afghanistan with one twenty-fifth of the military personnel and one-fiftieth of the aid it committed to Bosnia.
Source: The Telegraph
