The Wayland News
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paternalistic enthusiasm not too far distant from a nineteenth centuryimperialist ideal of civilising the natives.That is an unfortunate comment and if true does not bode well for afuture outcome.Without doubt this is an infinitely more catastrophic and dangerouswar than any we have seen in recent times. On both sides, young
men and women‘s lives are being thrown away because our
politicians appear to have misjudged the level of resistance or failedto win the support of the majority Afghans.They have allowed our troops, with inadequate equipment and menon the ground, to enter a war zone that was abandoned by theRussians when they could not win the fight.Recently the Defence Secretary, Mr Bob Ainsworth made his first
major speech with an acknowledgement that there was ―gloom andworry‖ over the number of British fatalities in Afghanistan.
And he admitted it was understandable that people were questioning
whether the operation was ―too difficult‖. He insisted that theAfghanistan campaign went ―to the heart‖ of Britain‘s own national
security.With respect Minister, that was also said about Iraq and the so called
‗weapons of mass destruction.‘ Please do not try and convince us of
the need to fight this war by trying to frighten us. It will not wash asecond time.The Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has urged Gordon Brown
and his military planners to think again ―before it‘s too late.‖ Heclaims that British troops will be ―demoralised‖ by having to be―bailed
-
out‖ by the latest American troop surge.
His intervention is significant because there has, until now at least, been a degree of agreement among the three main parties atWestminster over the deployment of British troops in the fightagainst the Taliban.Recent events have led many to question, for the first time, whether the war in Afghanistan and manner in which it is conducted is theright way. There are also concerns that Britain is simply not givingthe troops the means to do their difficult job. Politicians from allsides are now saying that if you send people to war, you mustsupply the resources they need, or you should not send them at all.However, Mr Clegg has gone further than any other political leader
by questioning Britain‘s strategy in the region. He also says British
troops should be given better equipment.
He wrote: ―Recent events have led me to question, for the first time,whether we‘re going about things in the right way.‖ And adds: ―We
now need to ask whether the government has the will, strategy or tactics to do the job properly.Mr Clegg maintains that he supports the aims of the mission and isnot calling for British troops to be pulled out yet. However, he
insists that the current course is wrong, calling it ―a half
-way
house.‖He says: ―It is time to put real political will behind a new strategy,
and a new commitment to Afghanistan. It is our last chance before it
is too late.‖
Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, denied that Afghanistan was
turning into ―another Vietnam.‖―I don‘t accept that.‖―Our troops are in Afghanistan to
keep our country safe from thethreat of terrorism. If we leave nowthe Taliban will take control and Al-
Qaeda will return,‖ he said.
In his article however, Mr Clegg blames poor equipment for someof the deaths.
―I am appalled that so many of our
soldiers have been killed because
of inadequate equipment.‖
Mr Clegg also believes that the
‗surge‘ of American troops will
further marginalise the Britisheffort in the same way that it did inIraq when British troops were
―relegated‖ to the background.He says: ―I can only imagine how
demoralising it must be for Britishtroops at all levels to feel they have
to be bailed out by Uncle Sam.‖
The recent death toll also includes Lieutenant Colonel RupertThorneloe who became the most senior Army officer to be killed onoperations since the Falklands War.
Lt Col Thorneloe‘s death has angered many who believe a lack of
proper equipment is increasing the casualty rate. He was travellingin a Viking armoured vehicle when it was blown up by a road side bomb. Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, claims that despite
Mr Ainsworth‘s assurances, troops in Afghanistan still lacked
essential equipment.
―There are real questions about whether the Government has
fulfilled the pledge to give the armed forces everything they need to
do the job,‖ he said. ―The bottom line from our troops is they don‘thave enough armoured vehicles and they don‘t have enoughhelicopters. The Government needs to act.‖
By virtually every measure, the war in Afghanistan is getting muchworse for both the western coalition and for the Afghani civilian population. The number of districts under Taliban influence, the
number of ―security incidents‖, the number of suicide attacks, thenumber of regions that are ―No Go zones‖ for UN and aid workers,
the number of coalition dead, the number of civilian dead andwounded, the number of insurgent attacks on civilians, the number of coalition air strikes, the number of insurgent roadside bombsattacks, the number of insurgent attacks on government officials,especially police, the size of the opium crop, the number of households involved inopium production, the sizeand sophistication of transnational heroin production and exportnetworks
–
all haveincreased or worsenedmarkedly in the past twoyears.Most importantly, all of thisis happening in a countrysharing a border with analready fragile state. TheAfghanistan War is now theAfghanistan-Pakistan War.Unless western coalition policy changes rapidly,Pakistan as a political entitywill be threatened
–
a matter that India, a nuclear nation,cannot ignore.While Al-Qaeda hasrecovered from the initialassault, and has an important presence beyondAfghanistan and Pakistan, such sanctuaries no longer exist inAfghanistan, or even in Pakistan. The real strategic question iswhether there are means other than a very counter-productive war to ensure that a future Afghanistan government does not toleratesuch sanctuaries again.One of the key issues driving international support for the originalinvasion was the appalling situation of women and girls under theTaliban regime. Yet despite constitutional changes, and manyexamples of extraordinary courage, even a cursory scrutiny of reports from the Afghanistan Independent Human RightsCommission and other Afghan organisations makes appallinglyclear the horror of life under the Taliban.Our Prime Minister insists the UK is winning the war inAfghanistan despite a surge in the deaths of British soldiers. In a
statement to MP‘s Mr Brown said ―Despite the tragic losses, morale
remains high - and I can report the assessment of commanders onthe ground that the current operations are succeeding in their
objectives.‖―They are having a marked impact on the Taliban in central
Helmand, will improve security for the population in the run up tothe elections, and will allow longer term work on governance and
development to begin.‖
Mr Brown said securingAfghanistan was essential to
prevent the ‗return of al Qaida‘.―While I know there are some who
have questioned our strategy, Icontinue to believe our strategy is
the right one,‖
―It has been a very difficult
summer and it is not over. But if we are to deny Helmand to theTaliban in the long term; if we areto help Afghanistan and Pakistanto defeat this vicious insurgencyand prevent the return of al Qaida -then it is vital that the internationalcommunity sees its commitment
through.‖
Mr Brown said he recognised ithad been a very difficult summer
for British troops after ―tragiclosses‖ by the Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan.
But he said it was crucial that the international community remainedcommitted to the region.
―This is a fight to clear terrorist networks from Afghanistan and
Pakistan, to support the elected governments in both countriesagainst the Taliban, to tackle the heroin trade which funds terrorism
and the insurgency, and to build longer term stability.‖ He said the
Government will continue to place the highest priority on safety as
troops continue to face a ―tough and dangerous battle‖.
Mr Brown has also said Britain would also play a leading role ininternational assistance to Pakistan, placing more attention oneducation, health and human rights.
―We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked very
hard in Afghanistan to ensure that terrorist networks and terroristsare dealt with and prevented from operating in Britain.
―What has happened, as everybody knows, is that the tactics of the
Taliban have moved from direct confrontation to the guerrillawarfare of using electronic devices, roadside bombs and making lifevery difficult for our troops. But in April this year we added to thenumber of engineers who were clearing these roadside and other
bombs and I think it‘s important to recognise that a great deal of
that work has prevented other traps and therefore saved a large
number of lives as a result.‖
Mr Brown stated the work of British and coalition forces in
an area that he called ‗thecrucible of terrorism‘ is
making the streets of Britainsafer as a result of taking onthe Afghan Taliban and AlQaida and taking on thePakistani Taliban.When questioned over thelength of time the war had been running and thecomparison that it had onlytaken six years to defeat NaziGermany the Prime Minister was again firm on the needfor continued action.
He said forces were ‗dealingwith a terrorist threat….this
is not something that couldhave been done in a year or
in a few months….It‘s
something that has engaged40 countries, has led to us
deploying 9,000 troops.‘
‖As for resources, we‘ve
spent over £1 billion on over
1,000 new vehicles since 2008. We‘ve included in that 280 Mastiff,
which offer world class protection against mines and roadside bombs. We must do more and we will do more and later this year
the new Ridgeback vehicles will also go out to Afghanistan. We‘ve
also sent more helicopters. Our commanders have almost twice asmuch helicopter capability as two years ago. But of course we mustdo more there as well and later this year the Merlins will go out toAfghanistan. So wherever there is a need for equipment we havelooked at the case and £1 billion extra has been spent on equipment
over this last period of time.‖
Questioned on whether this war could be Britain‘s Vietnam Mr
Brown said the operation in Helmand Province, was showing signsof success.Foreign secretary David Miliband also stressed the importance of
staying in Afghanistan saying the ‗future of Britain‘ was dependant
on victory.In conclusion, at present the strategic benefits of fighting inAfghanistan appear to be minimal to non-existent and the risks of awidening war alarming, and the moral and humanitarianconsequences appalling.Perhaps the government needs to realise that while Al-Qaeda is asmuch an idea as it is a violent force it will not be contained. There isa lot of talk about "Hearts and Minds" but the people using the phrase give the impression of being unable to work out what itmeans to the people of other cultures. In reality such phrases are just propaganda. Even if the terrorists lose their base in Afghanistan andPakistan it will not mean they are beaten. While officials and
advisers speak of the need to ―stay the course‖ for a decade or more
into the future, this is impossible. Like it or not eventually the US,and its allies, will leave, without any definable or honourablevictory. The Afghans will stay.And the government needs to be mindful of mounting publicconcern. While opinion polls are said to be showing a trickle againstthe war, this trickle could become a torrent. Those old enough toremember Vietnam will recall the vision of plane loads of coffinsarriving home every day. Eventually this turned the people of America against the war and led to them demanding an end to it. InAustralia the war became so shameful returning troops were brought home in secret in the middle of the night to avoid anynegative comment.In Britain public disquiet over the leap in fatalities
—
eight in one24-hour period
—
has alarmed Washington because of the doubts being raised about the campaign and the resources being given toBritish troops, forcing Mr Obama to praise the work of our forces.The market town of Wootton Bassett has become the focus of national grieving for British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Twoyears ago it started with a few veterans bowing their heads inrespect as the hearses passed through the town on their way fromRAF Lyneham. Now the number of people turning out to bidfarewell to the fallen has swelled to several thousand. As the bodycount rises honour and pride may also be tinged with bitterness.
according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website ―The
UK, alongside 40 other nations, is in Afghanistan at the invitation of the democratically elected Afghan Government to help rebuild anddevelop a country emerging from a quarter century of conflict. Weare there to support Afghanistan's security, reconstruction, goodgovernance and counter-
narcotics work.‖
It is difficult to see what good came of the Vietnam War and as
someone once said ―History repeats itself because no one waslistening the first time.‖
We must not allow Afghanistan become our Vietnam.
RUSSIAN LOSSESIN AFGHANISTAN
Cast your mind back to that terrible conflict when Soviet troops
‗invaded‘ Afghanistan at the invitation of its government, in
December 1979. The purpose was to preserve a shaky self declaredSocialist (communist) regime fighting against the Islamistmujahedeen resistance - who incidentally were later supported intheir fight against Russian forces by the US, UK, Pakistan andSaudi Arabia. But, after failing to quell the guerrilla resistance, theRussian forces withdrew, with their tail between their legs, inFebruary 1989.After the withdrawal was completed on 15 February 1989, theUSSR said 14,453 of its personnel had been killed in Afghanistanand 11,600 had been rendered invalids. The number of Afghanskilled is variously estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million, with tensof thousands of others crippled. A cut off of military and economicaid from the collapsing Soviet Union led to the Afghangovernment's fall to a resistance coalition in April 1992.
VIETNAM . . .THE DEADLY STATISTICS
The Vietnam War began in 1959 and did not end until 1975.The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of SouthVietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. U.S. involvementescalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965.The United States lost 58,209 men and women killed in action, (in 1968 alone,16,592 US personnel were killed) a further 303,635 were wounded including153,303 who required hospitalisation, 1,948 are still reported missing in action.According to the Vietnamese government, 1,100,000 Vietnam People's Armyand National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam military personnel and2,000,000 Vietnamese civilians on both sides died in the conflict. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam lost approximately 184,000 servicemen during thewar, with some estimates as high as a quarter of a million. Because it was thecountry most devastated by the war, South Vietnam suffered the bulk of theestimated 500,000 to 2,000,000 civilian deaths sustained by the entireVietnamese population during the conflict; out of a possible median of 1,200,000 dead for the whole country.Australia's military involvement in the Vietnam War was the longest induration of any war in Australia's history. From the time of the arrival of thefirst members of the Team in 1962 almost 60,000 Australians, including groundtroops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 521 died as a resultof the war and over 3,000 were wounded.
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