LONDON, Aug 15: Helping Kabul to defeat Taliban and build structures to govern and care for its people is vital in safeguarding the United Kingdom against the threat of terrorism, maintained Defence Secretary Des Browne responding on Wednesday to widespread media criticism of the UK’s Afghanistan policy.

Mr Browne, who recently returned from a visit to the country, made a detailed response to the criticism in a letter issued to the Daily Telegraph, especially mentioning the newspaper’s editorial on Tuesday on the subject.

He said the UK was in Afghanistan because “the people of that country need us and their government wants us”.

He rejected the media claims that casualty rate in Afghanistan had climbed up to what was being suffered in WW1 and also disagreed with the casualty figure of 10 per cent. According to him, the figure was close to three per cent. “I am deeply saddened by every death and injury.

I was in a forward operating base in Gereshk last week and I was truly humbled by the bravery of the soldiers there, who face these risks with such a clear sense of purpose that talk of confusion is simply insulting. “Afghanistan is the biggest UK military deployment and has one of our largest embassies,” he asserted. “We know how crucial this country is.”

He rejected the notion that medals were being given on political consideration rather than for bravery and said a quick check on the details would allow a more balanced view.

He said it was the military chain of command that considered whether a medal was deserved. They were the only ones qualified to make such an assessment. The chiefs of staff considered the case and the chief of defence staff then took the recommendation to a cross-Whitehall committee, which forwarded it to the queen for approval.

To undermine this by instituting a medal driven by media or political pressure did a great disservice to a large number of people who had earned the right to wear their medals, including the existing Afghanistan medal, he said.