Downing Street warns war will last 'as long as it takes'

Tony Blair urged Britain yesterday to "hold its nerve" over bombing Afghanistan after the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, warned that military action could continue "indefinitely".

Downing Street called for "patience" and warned it would carry on for "as long as it takes" amid growing concern that public support could be falling away because of air strikes on civilian targets.

The Prime Minister's strategy received a stinging attack from Peter Kilfoyle, a former Labour defence minister, who called for a stop to the bombing and accused the Government of "real confusion". He said Mr Blair was George Bush's junior partner in a military campaign that could have damaging consequences for Britain in the long term.

"Effectively this is an American war .... It means that decisions are made in Washington and nowhere else," Mr Kilfoyle said on BBC's On the Record. "It drags us in ways which we might not wish to be dragged in if we had considered this a little more deeply and the ramifications throughout the rest of the Muslim world and beyond."

Amid further signs of growing unease, it was revealed that Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's director of communications, visited Washington last week to ensure the "co-ordination of the message across different time zones".

Yesterday, Downing Street said that it was "vital that we do not lose sight of the pain of the families" left bereaved by the 11 September attacks.

"We have always understood that it is important that we are clear in what we say," said the Prime Minister's official spokesman. "It is right to warn people that it is not going to be an instant solution."

Mr Straw and Downing Street attacked the media's approach to the war yesterday. Mr Blair's official spokesman said the coverage, which has questioned the success of the campaign, was being driven by the news industry's constant need for developing storylines. The same people who criticised military action in the Balkans were now criticising action in Afghanistan, he said.

However, the successful outcome in Kosovo had justified "patience and perseverance". "In any campaign, there are times when things go well and times when things go less well," the spokesman said. "What is important is that we keep our eye on the main objectives and continue our efforts to complete them. The Prime Minister believes the country understands that this is campaign that takes both time and patience."

The Government denied claims that cracks were appearing in the coalition against Afghanistan. Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was in New York yesterday for a memorial service where she visited "ground zero".

This week, the Foreign Secretary will visit Poland and Moscow to shore up the coalition. Mr Straw said yesterday that the Government was giving serious consideration to stopping the bombing during the Muslim religious fasting month of Ramadan, although he would not rule out continuing the military campaign.

"We're thinking about it carefully, but we're also looking at the experience of Islamic countries," he said.