Smash hit

"These Taleban, they're quite a brave bunch, they are not frightened to stand up and fight. They're fanatical. They've never lost, they defeated the British before, and they think they are going to defeat us again," said Captain Rob Jones of 42nd Commandos.

Despite the regular British casualties, the fighting -- and repeated bludgeoning of the Taleban - had put many of the troops in buoyant mood.

Corporal Mel Hewish, short and scar-faced, enthused: "This is more exciting than Iraq. It might be intent, but it is exciting. We get to actually do something to use all our training. It's quite good fun."

But there are also complaints. Many of the troops complained to Tony Blair about the low levels of pay.

One of them was Sergeant John Alperes of the Royal Marines with a wife and two children in Manchester, who said: "When you start in the fire service you get what, £21,000 a year, but a basic Marine starts on £11,000."

Another Marine moaned about the lack of equipment telling The Times: "The biggest problem we have is equipment, particularly vehicles. The type we need are really scarce."

After posing for literally dozens of photos with the soldiers, and a chat with the commanders, Mr Blair ascended to a podium to rouse their spirits.

"You may not know this, but people back home are very proud of the work that you do. Whatever they think of the political leaders and the politicians there's only one thing that they think about you and that's a real sense of pride," he said to the cheering troops.

He admitted that many had asked for a pay rise, and joked "this is becoming a very expensive trip" but he insisted they were there for a purpose:

"You are out here in the middle of Afghanistan in this extraordinary camp that has been created here literally in the middle of nowhere for a reason and the reason is that this is a country that was used as a training ground for al-Qaeda and terrorism. It was a country that wasn't just a failed state, but was exporting terrorism and violence right around the world."

He told them that they shouldn't be surprised that the Taleban were now fighting back with a vengeance.

"That struggle is continuing for a very simple reason - the people we are fighting want to fight us back. And the only way we will beat them is to have the determination and the courage and the absolute will to make sure that however much they fight us, we are prepared to stand up and fight them back and defeat them. And when we defeat them we defeat them not just on behalf of the people here in Afghanistan, but in our country, Britain, and the wider world."

With that he rushed back to the Hercules waiting on the sand, put his flak jacket back on, and departed as quickly, and as steeply as he arrived.

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