Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik makes the argument in (where else?) his Daily Sport political column:
I AM delighted to see the Daily Sport taking a courageous and honest stand against the unwinnable and hopelessly expensive war in Afghanistan. The only WAY OUT is to PULL OUT. Then we can start talks with the other side and find a better way to sort out the mess. In hundreds of years, nobody’s ever beaten the Afghans on their home turf. It’s an away match the British and Americans cannot win — not least because, when they were our friends, we actually trained the enemy we’re now trying to defeat! So a gold star to the Sport for having the vision to call for troop withdrawal. I only hope other newspapers will have the sense to follow this paper’s lead. Any other plan is a strategy for failure, and a death warrant for even more of our brave soldiers.
What do LDV readers think – is Lembit right to call for British withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan? Or is a new surge necessary to win the war we started?
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8 Comments
He’s right. Shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Should leave now. Getting voted in in Britain gives no-one the right to occupy someone else’s country. Or to put it another way – remember the old war films set in German occupied countries? Remember the bad buys in the grey uniforms? That’s us that is.
I’m with Lembit (like most of the time) on this one! It’s a good argument and something I have been saying for a very long time. We do need to pull out of Afghanistan and we need to do it quick.
The UK army is not the bad guy but the longer we stay in Afghanistan the more other countries are going to start to think we are.
@Chris – If I recall the German troops didn’t have a UN mandate for their action and occupation. Whether we are helping the situation by remaining is less clear but the action and occupation do have validity.
Lembit is right that we should withdraw. However I would qualify that and say that there is a case to be made for keeping some troops there, in places where they are actually wanted. When the Taliban were last in control in Afghanistan they did not control all of it. I suspect the Tajiks and the Shia really would like to be protected from the Taliban, and maybe Kabul as well. But fighting the Taliban in places like Helmond is pointless and will cause more problems than they solve.
I appreciate that Lembit has a writing style that is geared towards readers of the sport. If you want to read a detailed analysis from someone who knows the regions, I would like to point you to the following links;
London Review Of Books
and
Video
The only way that war could ever have been won was if marshal plan-levels of investment had followed the troops in, and that was never going to happen.
There’s going to be an absolute blood-bath when we do leave though.
Opportunistic and band waggon jumping come to mind.
The War in Afghanistan is over, it’s all about saving face now.
http://watching-history.blogspot.com/2009/10/war-in-afghanistan-2001-201x.html
A copy of my letter recently published in The Independent on the (13th July) which is self explanatory:
When the Prime Minister states that “There is a chain of terror that runs from the mountains and towns of Afghanistan to the streets of Britain” he is right, but not in the sense he intends.
The US/UK military campaign to subjugate the rebellious Pashtun province of Helmand is not winning hearts and minds. Instead, it sows seeds of bitterness and vengeance with every (shamefully under-reported) air strike. The occupation is radicalising a new generation at home and abroad. And, in counterpoint to its stated aims, it provides a training and testing ground for guerrilla tactics and technology.
The asymmetric conflict against the Pashtun insurgency in Afghanistan is resembling more and more the US embroilment in South Vietnam, with one crucial difference; the then Labour government had the courage and foresight not to involve UK forces.
CLLR TONY HARWOOD (LIB DEM) MAIDSTONE, KENT