Bob Ainsworth was put on the spot by Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes during an unprecedented ministerial troop visit alongside Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
After a display of anti-mine techniques at Camp Bastion, Mr Ainsworth asked Staff Sgt Hughes, a bomb disposal specialist, what he most needed.
The soldier quickly replied: “More troops on the ground.”
His comment came just days after US general Stanley McChrystal called for reinforcements, painting a dire picture of the situation, and the new head of the British Army threw his weight behind calls to deploy more international forces to Afghanistan.
Speaking in Afghanistan, Mr Ainsworth said boosting numbers was a shared responsibility, adding: “We know that there is an ask for increased troop levels coming from General McChrystal.
“Yet it is very important that people recognise that we are not alone in this.
“We have got to talk about how we deal with this situation going forward as a coalition. We cannot do it alone.”
He added: “We can’t meet General McChrystal’s effort on our own -- it’s got to be a coalition effort. It’s got to be a discussion that we will be party to.
“We have got to try to get others to do their share and the other thing we have got to think about is how quickly we do it … It takes time; you can throw money at this and it still takes time.”
Staff Sgt Hughes, who is just days from returning home to his family in Shropshire after a six-month tour, was defiant. The 30-year-old, a specialist with the Joint Forces Explosives Ordnance Device Group, said: “What was he going to do, send me home? It’s been a ridiculously busy, ridiculously hard tour. We have lost two guys.
“Clearly more troops are needed on the ground -- but then the same could be said for equipment.”
The troop’s commanding officer, Major Eldon Millar, 35, added: “Inevitably you feel you could do with a little more help. We are so stretched across Helmand because it is such a large area.”
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, of Task Force Helmand, insisted there were signs of progress, but said there were no signs of when the mission might come to an end.
He said: “Who knows how long it will take? We will be here for quite some time but it is the reality that it has improved.
“It is progressive, it’s slow but we are rebuilding.”
In London, General Sir David Richards said sending reinforcements would enable the Nato coalition to start winning the “psychological battle”, while reducing casualty levels.
He made it clear that he backed General McChrystal’s broader counter-insurgency strategy, establishing security by building up the support and confidence of ordinary Afghans.
“If you put in more troops we can achieve the objectives laid upon us more quickly and with less casualties,” he said.
“We can start winning the psychological battle, which is broadly wrapped around the Taliban saying, ‘The West and the Afghan government is doing very little for you -- we will offer you an austere future but at least it will be secure’.
“What we need to demonstrate is that we, Nato and the Afghan government, offer a much brighter future which is more secure, with jobs, and education and better health.”
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