A Tribute, as the Death Toll Rises

Britain Questions Role in Afghan War

WOOTTON BASSETT, England, July 14 -- As one coffin after another passed by, silence descended on a crowd of thousands who had come to pay their respects to eight British soldiers who recently died in Afghanistan.

Wootton Bassett is a small town near a sprawling Royal Air Force base that is Britain's equivalent of the U.S. Dover Air Force Base, the place where all British casualties are flown home. The town has become a focal point for the soul-searching here as Britain suffers a steep rise in military casualties in Afghanistan -- the overall death toll of 184 now exceeds British losses in Iraq.

Opposition politicians and many others are beginning to question Britain's involvement in a far-flung war that is increasingly bloody. Much of the political clamor revolves around what they complain is a shortage of equipment, with David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, saying that the army should "beg, borrow, or frankly steal" more helicopters, and that troops are needlessly vulnerable to roadside bombs.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown told Parliament on Monday that the 9,000 British troops in Afghanistan -- the second largest contingent after the United States -- have the "strongest possible plan" and the resources "to do the job."

The debate follows a busy few weeks for the citizens of this market town, 85 miles west of London, who form a solemn line along the main street every time a hearse from the nearby air force base drives through. Two years ago, a few ex-servicemen started saluting the cars. Nothing was scheduled, nothing was announced, they just started showing up.

Now, hundreds, sometimes thousands, line the streets in mournful silence for each procession. Fifteen men have died this month. Last week, eight soldiers died within 24 hours, making it the worst day for British combat troops in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.

"It's our way of telling friends and family we won't forget," said Steve Bucknell, the mayor of the town, who added that Brown had called him earlier in the day -- for the first time -- to thank him for the town's tributes.

On Tuesday, a mix of toddlers, teenagers, teachers and veterans -- Bucknell estimated 5,000 in all, the most to date -- lined the main street, which locals call the Highway for Heroes. One of them, Brian Freeth, a 72-year-old veteran wearing his army uniform, had driven 85 miles so he could salute the fallen. Not that he was a fan of the war. "But if they are there, let's give them the tools to do the job."

The clamor over equipment has resonated with the public, and politicians in the opposition parties, who will be fighting in a national election sometime this year, have noticed, said Michael Williams, a lecturer in international relations at Royal Holloway University. "Under-investment in the military" could be an opening for those challenging Brown and the Labor Party, he said. "Afghanistan is fast becoming a little election issue."

In Wootton Bassett, as a cortege drove by, people threw red roses on top of the black hearse.

These sad homecomings are "becoming more frequent," said Phil Seddon, who works for a nearby town council and drove 30 miles to be here, watching from the curb. The sadness will continue and the debate over the troops will, too, he said: "Everything becomes political football eventually."