The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, moved yesterday to counter growing scepticism about the war aims in Afghanistan by calling for "time and patience" to achieve the military objectives.
As the Prime Minister prepares to rally public opinion in a speech at the Welsh Assembly tomorrow, in which he will say the nation's "moral fibre" will defeat terrorism, several Labour backbenchers have been keeping up the pressure on the government to stop the bombing of Afghanistan.
Criticism is growing about civilian casualties as a result of the US air strikes and a sense of unease that Osama bin Laden has not yet been located.
But Mr Blair's spokesman said the Prime Minister, who was speaking to President George Bush by telephone last night, would not be blown off course by demands for instant results.
"The job will be done," the spokesman said.
He urged people not to forget why the attacks against Afghanistan had been launched. And he said the central message of Mr Blair's speech would be that "the cause remains right, the principle remains right" and Britain would "hold its nerve" during the military campaign.
In a clear attempt to prepare the public for a long war in Afghanistan, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, told BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme that the military campaign "may last indefinitely".
Mr Straw said civilian casualties "grieve everybody" and he blamed the "24-hour media industry" for making it difficult for the coalition to get its message across.
But the government's role in the US-led campaign was criticised by the former Labour defence minister, Mr Peter Kilfoyle, who said "real confusion" was creeping into the war aims and the veteran Labour MP, Mr Tony Benn, again called for a end to the bombing, describing the war as "immoral".
Their comments came as the Father of the Commons, Labour MP Mr Tam Dalyell, called on Mr Blair to justify the bombing campaign in Parliament.
In a withering criticism of Mr Blair, he said: "If the Prime Minister can find time to go to Cardiff and lecture the Welsh Assembly on moral fibre and holding British nerve, he can surely find time to come to the House of Commons on Thursday to explain why continued bombing is a justifiable policy."
Earlier, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor led about 2,000 people in a service of remembrance at Westminster Cathedral for victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks.