Blind spot: A sandstorm approaches the British forces' Camp Bastion in Helmand province. Photo: Reuters

The long war in Afghanistan has left Britain wary of more major military engagements abroad, much as Vietnam sapped America's will to fight, says British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.

Britain is experiencing a ''Vietnam phenomenon'' as the mission draws to a close, the Defence Secretary said in an interview during a trip to Afghanistan.

His candid assessment comes as Britain tries to wind down its mission in Afghanistan at the same time as Western leaders edge towards greater military intervention in Syria.


Philip Hammond. Photo: Getty Images

Britain is aiming to bring all troops home by the end of next year. Its Afghan operations began in 2001 with a drive to topple the Taliban government in Kabul that sheltered those responsible for the September 11 attacks on the US.

Since then, 444 British military personnel have died, and thousands more have been seriously injured. Britain will leave a country that remains desperately poor, plagued by corruption and with every prospect of the Taliban returning to share power. Mr Hammond admitted that the length and cost of the conflict has reduced Britain's willingness to conduct major military interventions.

''I suspect that the British people - and not just the British people - will be wary of enduring engagements on this kind of scale for perhaps quite a long while,'' he said.

Speaking at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand province, Mr Hammond said: ''You might call it the Vietnam phenomenon: when an engagement turns out to be longer and more costly than originally envisaged, there is often a public reaction to that.''

The US involvement in Vietnam spanned three decades and ended in 1975 with a humiliating retreat. But instead of ruling out all future interventions, Mr Hammond said that early action can avert crises. Had the West taken a role in Afghanistan earlier, he said, the prolonged war might have been avoided.

Instead of deployments of thousands of troops to combat zones, Britain should focus on smaller, earlier missions to ''snuff out'' terrorist groups and other threats.

Telegraph, London