Saving Britain in Afghanistan

The Foreign Secretary has warned of the necessity to extend the war activities of UK forces in Afghanistan in order to save Britain.  Thus he presents himself as a naive simpleton struggling to read, let alone master his brief.  He goes on to point out that UK forces are trying to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists – terorists that target the UK.  Hilarious. He is a laughing stock.  The Afghan government has only controlled small parts of Afghanistan for years, and all the foreign officials in Kabul know this very well. Many of those parts claimed to be under government control are in fact controlled by kleptocratic warlords, that have dominion over nothing except militias in police uniform robbing passers by and abusing women and children.

In many parts of Afghanistan, it is not so much that insurgents have ‘taken over’ some districts, but that they have instead filled a vacuum in lawless, brutalised areas.

The danger in Miliband’s statement however, is that, having made such a series of simply wrong and factually incorrect statements, the political pressure is created to ‘prove him right’ by exaggerating or fabricating uncheckable stories in the UK media about Taliban terrorists in the UK, or terrorists training camps convebniently full of ‘evidence’ of planned attacks on the UK.

It is in the British national interest to have good relations with Pakistan and other countries in the region. It is also in the UK interest to have demonstrably led a peace settlement and an end to the killing in Afghasnistan. It is also in the UK government’s interest to see (and participate in) sugnificant economic growth in the region. In these interests the UK military has its part. However to allow the humiliation of UK forces again (after Iraq) and dent their global reputation for effectiveness, should never, never be forgiven.

It is a disgrace that the clear steps to peace in the region are being neglected.