MoD Betrayed Troops in Afghanistan, Says Coroner

An Oxford coroner criticized the Ministry of defense yesterday, accusing it of betraying soldiers' trust by sending troops to Afghanistan without basic equipment.

Andrew Walker castigated the MoD at the end of an inquest into the death of Captain James Philippson, 29, who was killed in June 2006 during a gun battle with the Taliban in which British troops were described as "totally out gunned".

An army board of inquiry into Philippson's death concluded that British soldiers deployed to southern Afghanistan were ill-prepared, badly-led, under-manned, and lacked "mission essential" equipment because of "political machinations" by ministers.

The board described the operation in which Philippson was killed as an "ill-prepared rush".

Had his unit been given more essential equipment, notably night-vision goggles and light machine guns, "then it is less likely that Captain Philippson would have been killed," the board said.

The Royal Artillery officer died from a single gunshot wound in the head as his patrol was ordered to recover an unmanned aerial vehicle near their base at Sangin in Helmand province.

"They [the soldiers] were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment," Walker said, after recording a narrative verdict in which he said Philippson was unlawfully killed.

He added: "To send soldiers into a combat zone without basic equipment is unforgivable, inexcusable, and a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them."

The Oxford inquest heard that before Philippson's death soldiers complained repeatedly about a lack of proper equipment - mainly standard night vision kits and weapons.

The coroner asked Major Johnny Bristow, Philippson's commanding officer, whether the men would have been a match for their attackers had they been supplied with Minimi light machine guns and under-slung grenade launchers. "It would have made a hell of a difference," he said. Bristow said there were three or four night vision kits between as many as 30 men.

Anthony Philippson, the dead captain's father, said after the inquest: "I do hold the MoD responsible for James' death but it is not just the MoD, it goes much deeper than that. The Treasury and the then chancellor, Gordon Brown, will be really to blame for what happened. The MoD was starved of cash by the chancellor."

The board of inquiry's report said: "The MoD and the Treasury were unwilling to commit funds to urgent operational requirements enhancements prior to any formal political announcement."

It adds: "As a result many key items of equipment arrived in theatre late and some even failed to meet the deployment at all."

Troops were short not only of night-vision goggles but also of armored vehicles, heavy machine guns, ballistic matting to add protection to Land Rovers, and body armor.

The board did not shy away from pointing the finger directly at ministers. "Critically," it said, "the secretary of state, [then John Reid] had delayed announcing the Helmand deployment because he wanted to ensure that the campaign could be won, that the 3,150 manning cap was not exceeded, and that Britain's Nato allies were also contributing." The board's report continues: "The immediate consequence was that the two-month delay effectively froze the [urgent operational requirement] process and resulted in the [Helmand Task Force] deploying without much of the mission essential equipment that it had requested."

It says that many soldiers in Philippson's unit were surprised to discover themselves fighting alongside the Afghan national army as they had been led to assume that they had been deployed only in a training role.

The MoD said last night: "It was deeply regrettable that a failure to follow the correct staff procedures between a requesting unit and Headquarters Helmand Task Force resulted in a 25-day delay in providing night-vision goggles for [Philippson's unit]." It said the goggles were now standard issue for infantry in such operations.