Hutton: Snatch Essential to Operations

>The Snatch Land Rovers lack of protection has been blamed for the death of 37 British soldiers, but despite a public campaign MoD will not hold a public inquiry into why it was kept in operation for so long. (MoD photo)Defence Secretary John Hutton has announced today that he will not be instituting a public inquiry into the use of Snatch Land Rovers by the British military on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.>> In a statement to the House of Commons today, Tuesday 16 December 2008, Mr Hutton acknowledged that there is widespread public concern over the thirty-seven deaths of British servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan as a result of injuries sustained while using Snatch Land Rovers but stated that, after very careful consideration, he has decided that a public inquiry would not be the right way to proceed.>> Paying respect to the bravery and dedication of each of those thirty-seven Service personnel killed using the Snatch, he went on to state that the clear advice from military operational commanders, unanimously endorsed by the Chiefs of Staff, is that Snatch remains essential to the success of operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.>> Acknowledging suggestions that more heavily armoured vehicles, such as the Warrior or the very successful Mastiff, should replace the Snatch, Mr Hutton said while these are good vehicles and have an important role to play in operations, they cannot be used for all purposes.>> He said that the British military's tasks in Iraq and Afghanistan are largely ones of counter-insurgency and to do this there is a need to win the support and confidence of local people and the use of heavily armoured vehicles causes serious damage to roads, buildings, irrigation channels and drainage systems, factors which can inflame local opinion against UK troops, which works in favour of the enemy and actually increases the threat levels to our people.