Gordon Brown travelled yesterday to the combat zone in Afghanistan and pledged long-term support and a new poppy strategy for the country as it emerged that British troops could be there for up to a decade.

The surprise visit had the Prime Minister within 60 miles (95 km) of Musa Qala, where 3,000 British and US troops have been engaged in a deadly fight to recapture the town from Taleban insurgents.

Chinook helicopters flew overhead as the Prime Minister addressed 300 troops, many of whom have seen battle in recent days on the front line. Flanked by tanks and armoured vehicles, Mr Brown said that defeating the Taleban was essential to tackling terrorism around the world.

He also paid tribute to the troops’ courage. “This is one of the most challenging of environments, one of the most difficult of tasks, the most testing of times, and the most important of missions, because to win here and defeat the Taleban and make sure we can give strength to the new democracy of Afghanistan is important for defeating terrorism around the world,” he said.

“I know this weekend in Musa Qala you have been doing a very important job in clearing the Taleban. And I know the work you are doing today and over the next few days is important for the whole mission in Afghanistan.

“I believe if we can succeed there, which we will, then we can move forward to a more peaceful future of this country.”

Mr Brown’s visit to Camp Bastion, a base in the middle of the desert in Helmand, was the closest a serving British Prime Minister had been to a frontline ground battle since Winston Churchill visited the beaches after D-Day. On Sunday he visited Iraq, but his presence at Camp Bastion demonstrated Britain’s shifting focus to Afghanistan.

Mr Brown also held talks with President Karzai and pledged full support “over the next few years”. He did not, however, indicate when Britain would reduce its troop levels from 7,800.

Mr Brown will make a statement to the House of Commons tomorrow, outlining a change of strategy that will result in the Government paying subsidies to encourage poppy farmers to switch to other crops such as maize.

The plan has run into opposition in Washington. Some US officials believe that instead the crop should be eradicated by spraying it with poison. The British and Mr Karzai fear that this may cause widespread economic hardship and drive many Afghan farmers into the arms of the Taleban. “We need to build risk into the business model,” a military source said. “Many of the poppy growers know it is wrong. We must give them an alternative, while at the same time taking out the middle men who buy the poppies.”

Britain does not support buying poppies directly because it fears that this could give an incentive to farmers to increase production. The military source said that Britain’s Afghan operation, which began 18 months ago, could last a decade. He said that British forces had been surprised at the Taleban’s strength when they arrived and were trying to create a “tipping point”, where Afghans realised it was not in their interests to co-operate with the Taleban.

At a press conference with Mr Karzai yesterday, Mr Brown said: “We are not only determined to do our job with troops but also give support to economic development for the building of schools, the creation of healthcare and the reconstruction of the economy of this country.”

Mr Brown’s safety during his brief visit to Camp Bastion was guaranteed by a combination of high-tech sophistication, low-tech physical barriers, and, more than anything else, by the location. The base, which is home to about 2,500 troops and a regional hospital, is in the middle of the desert, although not far to the north is the American-built trunk road, Highway One. The inhospitable surroundings are something the designers took into account.

The desert is not Taleban country but, ahead of Mr Brown’s visit, the unit responsible for protecting the base launched night-time patrols in surrounding villages to establish that there was no unusual activity.

The camp itself is a fortress of barbed wire and ramparts made out of giant plastic bags surrounded by steel mesh and filled with local dirt, described by the manufacturers as the “most significant development in field fortifications since the Second World War”. Advanced radar is also in place to spot incoming mortar rounds.

One more unto the breach

King George II became the last British king to lead his soldiers into combat, against the French at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria in 1743. He frequently visited his troops who, by his death in 1751, had won victories in Canada and India and put down the Jacobite Rebellion

Abraham Lincoln visited Fort Stevens, one of several defensive positions around Washington during the American Civil War. The President’s visit took place during an attack by Confederate forces

Winston Churchill visited the Fourth Hussars in 1942 while they were serving in the Middle East. The Prime Minister had himself served with the regiment in 1895

Dwight D. Eisenhower met frontline troops in 1953 as US President during the Korean War. He joined soldiers queuing up for “chow”

Source: US Soldiers’ Home National Monument; Westminster Abbey; University of Texas; Churchill Centre

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