Hutton confident over Taleban war

John Hutton visited troops in Helmand province in Afghanistan this month

Britain will win the war against the Taleban in Afghanistan, new Defence Secretary John Hutton has said.

Writing in the News of the World, he said it could not be won by military means alone, but security, governance and reconstruction were also important.

Mr Hutton visited Afghanistan and Iraq earlier this month after replacing Des Browne in the cabinet reshuffle.

He said he accepted UK troops had not always had the best kit and committed to ensuring they would in the future.

'Dangerous and irrational'

In his article, Mr Hutton said: "We owe it to the memory of the 121 UK forces who have died in Afghanistan not to follow the advice of our critics and simply walk away.

"If we allow Afghanistan to fall back into the clutches of al-Qaeda and the Taleban, the consequences of a terror-backed state will be felt in British towns and cities."

He described the Taleban as having a total disregard for life, which made them "dangerous, irrational but ultimately cowardly".

He said he would focus Nato and Afghan forces on the drug warlords, laboratories and smugglers, rather than small farmers.

Mr Hutton went on to say next year would be a critical year, with democratic elections across Afghanistan being a key test of progress.

European army

His pledge over troops' equipment follows a high profile inquiry into the deaths of 10 servicemen killed when a Hercules aircraft was shot down by enemy fire in Iraq in 2005.

Relatives said the men had been let down by the Ministry of Defence and a coroner found a catalogue of "systemic failures" were to blame.

In a separate interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Hutton said he backed a French plan for a European Army.

He called for pragmatism, saying: "Where it can help, we should be part of it."