The British government must not let negative opinion polls about the war in Afghanistan dictate its security policy, the head of the British army warned Monday.
The war is winnable, even though the point of victory may seem some way off yet, General David Richards wrote in a letter to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has faced growing pressure over the purpose and scope of the British mission in Afghanistan in recent months, as the death toll rose swiftly.
A Populus opinion poll for The Times newspaper out Wednesday showed public opinion on the Afghanistan conflict has soured, with 36 percent of voters now in favour of withdrawing all British forces.
Anyone who suggests "the sooner we get out the better… is wrong", Richards wrote.
"It has been a struggle to persuade the British public about this and we need to do better. But we should not allow our security policy to be driven by opinion polls.
"Certainly there are other parts of the world that present potential threats; these are tackled in different ways.
"It is wrong to suggest that, because we do not have forces in all of them, we should withdraw from Afghanistan."
Brown announced Wednesday that Britain would send an extra 500 soldiers to Afghanistan, to take the its commitment to 9,500. They are based in the troubled southern Helmand Province, battling Taliban insurgents.
Britain has the second-largest deployment after the United States. There have been 221 British deaths there since the Afghanistan operation began in 2001.
British troops are fighting in Afghanistan "to protect this country's security and our involvement is non-discretionary", wrote Richards, who became chief of the general staff on August 28.
"We will have achieved military success when the Afghans can sustain the fight without our help.
"Although it may take a few years to reach that point, the campaign is winnable and we, and our Afghan and international partners, have the strategy and resolve to see it through."
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