Casualties bring horror of war to Britain

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, NOV. 27. The full horror of the war in Afghanistan hit Britons on Monday as British troops suffered their first casualties since the military action started seven weeks ago, and the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush warned of a ``new dangerous phase'' ahead.

Four British commandos, wounded apparently in a gunfight near Kandahar, were flown back home and admitted to a hospital in Birmingham for treatment amid a fog of secrecy over the nature of their injuries, or the circumstances in which they were wounded. The Defence Secretary, Mr. Geoff Hoon, merely said they had been ``working alongside U.S. forces'' and that the injuries to one of them were serious.

``His condition was causing concern at one stage but I have been told today that his condition is stable,'' he told the BBC amid increased concern over the safety of the troops still in Afghanistan.

There was speculation that public support for the war might start to drop if there were any more casualties. Commentators noted that until now it had been a ``good'' war both for the political and military brass in Britain and the U.S. but after their ``first substantial casualties'', as The Times put it, the mood was likely to change. Mr. Bush's warning on Monday that the American people must be prepared for ``loss of life'' found resonance here prompting fears of a public backlash if ``body bags'' start arriving.

The Guardian pondered over the ``political consequences'' of what it believed was the start of a new, bloody phase, while The Times warned that the war had moved into a ``more dangerous, more intensive phase'' .

The new turn in the U.S.-led conflict came amid reports of large- scale reprisal killings by the victorious Northern Alliance troops in defiance of an understanding with the Taliban that the surrendering Afghan Talibans would be given amnesty while foreign mercenaries imprisoned and tried.

A large number of wounded Afghan Taliban soldiers were reported to have been brutally killed in ``scenes that will fuel criticism of the Alliance and of Washington's support for it....'' according to The Guardian.

Observers said the killings would be seized by the critics of the Alliance who see it as a ``brutal'' and ``fractious'' organisation driven solely by hunger for power and with little interest in bringing together the rival Afghan groups.

The Libyan leader, Mr. Muammar Gaddafi, was quoted as saying that the Alliance was behaving as brutally as the Taliban and demanded that foreign mercenaries be allowed safe passage back to their countries where they should be tried.

Meanwhile, the British Government dug deep into its pockets to meet the cost of fighting terrorism with the Chancellor, Mr. Gordon Brown, announcing a war chest of £ 120 million in his annual pre-Budget report here today. He was also expected to promise £ 100 million to the armed forces for ``urgent operational'' requirements relating to the war in Afghanistan, and an additional funding for MI5 and MI6 in recognition of their ``increased'' role in tackling terrorism.

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