Normally this government is craven in front of the opinion polls. So why are they persisting in thinking there is a military solution in Afghanistan? Shouldn’t Mr Brown be telling Mr Obama he is wrong to want to intensify the war there? Isn’t it time that the politicians tried some talking in Afghanistan, so we can begin to disengage our troops?
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November 13, 2008
I did not want our troops there or in Iraq from the outset!!!!
November 13, 2008
There is only one viable solution to the quagmire of Afghanistan. To work with the Taliban and to set preconditions if they are to return to power. Such a move would make the west far more secure than an army of occupation ever could.
November 13, 2008
Two more brave soldiers (Royal Marines) killed this morning by a bomb. I wait to discover how they were killed. In a 'snatch' land rover? I hope not.
As a father with a son in the army, My prayers are with the two lost men and their grieving families, friends and colleagues.
The time has come for the Conservative opposition to draw the line under this war. We went in and we were told by Dr Reid that he hoped no shot would be fired in anger! This will be a bloodbath for years to come. Remember the full might of the Russian Army was held there for ten years. So will we be.
We have to come out now.
reply: It's a disgrace that they still have not provided safer equipment.
November 13, 2008
Quite. It is safe to say the strategy of the government is not as successful as they might have hoped. And given that the enemy regularly decamps to Waziristan, our presence seems futile. Just as the VC would hide out in Cambodia, we now see Al Qaida/Taleban hiding out in Pakistan.
If I might be permitted a personal observation, a war is worth fighting if I would go myself or send my own son to fight. Setting aside my utter uselessness as a soldier, I would happily have manned the defences against Hitler in 1940 (with all the skill and efficacy of Corporal Jones of 'Dad's Army' fame, no doubt!) and expected my offspring to shoulder a rifle. Would I go to Helmand myself? No.
Setting aside the fact that our troops are, to a man, better soldiers than I would ever have been, I still would not have the audacity to order their deployment.
November 13, 2008
On a brighter note, the war in Afghanistan is keeping our army in business. Without it, I think it might actually disappear completely! Nobody loves it, except for Her Majesty. Did you see her on TV accepting the three cheers? It was marvellous; her whole face lit up with love and understanding. Her sons and grandsons, of course, are all soldiers of one sort or another. Very few politicians, (or their children), have had anything to do with the army, except for seeing it losing in Vietnam on the Telly.
And, as for Gordon Brown actually facing camera and using the soldiers for his photo shoot as a backdrop! Well!
That said, it is such a shame that we are so tied down. We will soon, no doubt, be really needed in Iran, Congo, maybe Ireland again and, (who knows?), even on the streets of London if things get really bad.
November 14, 2008
Mike, if there is one thing you can be completely sure of, it is that the government will always retain enough troops and armed security to protect themselves ~ ironically, whilst the law abiding here have been completely disarmed.