THE FATHER of the 300th British Serviceman to die in the Afghanistan conflict has launched a petition calling for a public inquiry into the military action.
Robin Hollington wants to know why the British Armed Forces were sent into Helmand on a "hearts and mind mission", having achieved their primary objective to quell the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in 2001.
And he especially wants to know why former Defence Secretary, John Reid, believed the military could complete the mission "without firing a shot" when they were already overstretched in Iraq.
The British death toll in Afghanistan rose from a handful of personnel to 451 as a result, with his 23-year-old son from Steep, Marine Richard Hollington, being killed by insurgents during June 2010.
"The first principle of war is to select and maintain the aim," said Mr Hollington.
"In this case, we went to Afghanistan to get Al-Qaeda and we achieved that, so why did we go into Helmand?
"To destroy poppies, to let girls go to school and open markets? What part of the aim was that? Zero."
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is understood not to be keen on a public inquiry - which could run until 2030 based on the timescale for the Iraq report - because it could threaten the safety of a training mission.
It is believed Prime Minister Theresa May is being encouraged by chairman of the Commons Defence Committee Julian Lewis to get the MoD to publish its lessons learned in Afghanistan having read about Mr Hollington’s case.
To sign the petition visit https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/219781