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Summary Leaked documents disclosed on Wednesday that a senior adviser to Gordon Brown put pressure on the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan to play down the bleak and deteriorating situation to reduce criticism of his government.
Mr Brown, the prime minister at the time, visited the country and met Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US military commander, who described the growing threat posed by the insurgency and warned that the Afghan authorities faced a crisis of confidence. A cable states that a security adviser to Mr Brown told Gen McChrystal — with Mr Brown present — that his “bleak assessment” could result in negative press coverage. Gen McChrystal, who was later forced to resign, refused to back down. The cable, passed to The Daily Telegraph by the WikiLeaks website, states: “COMISAF [Gen McChrystal] replied that while he was sensitive to that impression, he would maintain his intellectual honesty – and that what might be perceived by some as a bleak assessment, might be considered by others to be realistic’.” At the time, Mr Brown was under scrutiny over equipment shortages and the number of British soldiers being killed. He was being urged by Army chiefs to “get more boots on the ground”.
