Britain mourns 6 soldiers killed in Afghanistan

updated 12:00 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2009

WOOTTON BASSETT, England - Hundreds gathered in this small English market town Tuesday to pay tribute to six soldiers killed in Afghanistan — five of whom were shot to death by an Afghan police officer trained by allied forces.

The deaths have been branded as a betrayal in Britain — British and allied forces have spent years training Afghan forces and securing villages vulnerable to Taliban attacks — but they have also added to waning support for the U.S.-led mission.

Some 232 British troops have died since 2001, questions have erupted over a lack of equipment for the troops and several military officers have resigned over the mission's strategy.

Other governments with troops in Afghanistan, including the United States, have faced similar discontent.

"I don't support the war anymore," said Anne Saville, a 54-year-old surveyor from Bolton, in northern England. "There seems to be no end in sight and no justification for the troops to be out there."

President Barack Obama is due to decide whether more U.S. troops will be deployed — a decision that could affect Britain's 9,000 troops.

Any decision to send more troops could backfire for the British Labour-led government, which lost significant support from voters in local and general elections when it joined the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq.

Most Brits want troops out
A poll last week showed that 64 percent of Britons — up from 58 percent in a similar poll over the summer — think the war is unwinnable. And 63 percent of the 1,009 people across Britain who were questioned wanted the troops withdrawn from Afghanistan. The poll had an error margin of three percentage points.

British media coverage of troop deaths in Afghanistan has been constant, and Wootton Bassett — about 85 miles west of London — has become a somber reminder of the treacherous mission.

The flag-draped coffins arrive at a nearby Royal Air Force base and then travel through the town's streets lined with grieving family members, friends and veteran's groups. The numbers lining the streets have swollen from dozens to thousands in the past two years.

For the six bodies returning Tuesday, five of the soldiers were killed a week ago when an Afghan police officer trained by allied forces opened fire at a checkpoint in the volatile southern province of Helmand. The gunman escaped.

A sixth soldier died in an explosion Thursday.

The slain men ranged in age from 22 to 40.

National attention
The repatriations — usually broadcast live on television — has taken on national significance in this small country with a voracious national media.

This year, the American military removed its 18-year ban on media covering the return of U.S. service members killed in action if family permission was provided.

"The British way of mourning war dead is quite formal," said Robert Lee, spokesman for the Royal British Legion.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was criticized this week over a hastily written condolence letter to a grieving mother, said the Afghan mission is vital to keeping Britons safe from terrorists.

Brown, whose vision has suffered from a childhood rugby accident, apologized again Tuesday for misspelling both the name of the mother and her son who was killed in Afghanistan.

"Each life lost is an irreplaceable loss from a family," Brown said. "It reminds us of the stark human cost of armed conflict in the service of our society."

Brown said that by mid-2010, British forces will begin handing over control of some districts of the southern Helmand province to Afghan military leaders and local lawmakers — a tactic aimed at preparing the way for an eventual withdrawal from the province.

Brown has warned the Afghan government it needs to clean up corruption to keep British support.

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