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Jock Stirrup (AFP/POOL/Andrew Winning
"The mission is achievable and at last we have a properly resourced plan to deliver the strategy," Stirrup said in his annual lecture to the Royal United Services Institute in London.
"Our people in theatre know this. The greatest threat to their morale is not the Taliban or IEDs (improvised explosive devices), but declining will at home.
"Support for our service men and women is indivisible from support for this mission."
"Our people know that they can succeed, that we'll only fail if we choose to fail. We owe it to them, and to those we've lost, not to make that choice," Stirrup went on.
The comments by the top British officer come amid falling public support for the campaign as troop deaths rise and criticism of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government over adequate resources for frontline soldiers.
Brown this week announced an extra 500 troops will be sent to Afghanistan in December, tipping Britain's deployment there over the 10,000 mark.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting for key talks on Afghanistan, after US President Barack Obama announced the dispatch of an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, and called on his partners to come up with 5,000-7,000 more.
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"Our people in theatre know this. The greatest threat to their morale is not the Taliban or IEDs (improvised explosive devices), but declining will at home.
"Support for our service men and women is indivisible from support for this mission."
"Our people know that they can succeed, that we'll only fail if we choose to fail. We owe it to them, and to those we've lost, not to make that choice," Stirrup went on.
The comments by the top British officer come amid falling public support for the campaign as troop deaths rise and criticism of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government over adequate resources for frontline soldiers.
Brown this week announced an extra 500 troops will be sent to Afghanistan in December, tipping Britain's deployment there over the 10,000 mark.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting for key talks on Afghanistan, after US President Barack Obama announced the dispatch of an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, and called on his partners to come up with 5,000-7,000 more.
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