I have just returned from a visit to Southern Afghanistan as a guest of the military in Camp Bastion and Kandahar – two enormous sites separated by about 30 minutes flight time.
I have been a fairly regular visitor to Afghanistan since the early 1980s but this was completely different. The purpose of our small parliamentary delegation was to be briefed about the war by those who are fighting it.
What has to be said first and foremost is that I have the utmost admiration and respect for the military personnel ranging from the humblest private to the Brigadiers in charge of all the UK troops. The conditions are at times appalling – the temperature can rise to 50 degrees plus, there are frequent sand storms preventing all flying, the enemy are guerillas hiding behind every rock and there is a significant increase in the explosive devices (the real killers) deployed by the enemy.
The war is a complex and depressing tale; we (UK troops of which there are approximately 7,500 in theatre at present) are part of a joint operation with the US, Canadians, Dutch, German, Danish, French, Italian and other forces – each however have rather different rules of engagement which makes strategy difficult. For example, is the overall aim to dig out and kill the enemy (Taliban AND Al Qaeda) = USA strategy, or win hearts and minds and build capacity = UK strategy.
The latter is clearly to my mind preferable but what happens if the Afghan population does not want you there and indeed hates you – how then do you win hearts and minds. It seems that the UK strategy has now become one of providing sufficient security to enable people not only to lead their lives but to be able to decide on their own future in elections. This CANNOT happen in the absence of a degree of security and this is what UK troops are striving to attain.
Parliamentary elections are due in 2009 and Presidential ones in 2010. Registration is under way but is also being fiercely and violently opposed by the Taliban. Meanwhile the death toll of young men going out to forward operating bases to engage directly with the enemy continues.
The opium crop in Helmand and Kandahar (the areas of fiercest fighting) has increased markedly this year. The considerable proceeds are helping to arm the Taliban and there is a constant stream of new recruits coming in from the tribal areas of Pakistan. It all seems pretty hopeless at times.
To set against this, the answer to my final query as we were leaving ‘Are you winning?’ was, surprisingly, yes. In small but sure ways the military forces believe that they can create a zone of security and help in reconstruction and development. They think that increasingly the people of the area are turning against the Taliban where they have the resources to do so and that the Afghan army, being trained and mentored by the UK troops, is gaining strength and confidence.
There is so much more to say ….but let me leave it at that for the time being.
The greatest tragedy of Afghanistan is that we took our attention off
it in the rush to get involved with the war in Iraq. Still what’s done
is done and I hope the renewed focus on Afghanistan will pay off. I
wish NATO could unify it forces more so they can operate under a
common strategy and rules of engagement however I suspect that
politics get in the way.
Do you feel the troops are getting the full support in men and
equipment that they need for their current role?
I’m sure your visit was a much needed morale booster for the military.
However, if Afghanistan is currently a victim of a criminal cabal fighting a guerrilla war it is also the victim of long standing climate change, a change that robbed the geographical area of its prosperity and civilisation.
These tricksters who fight and abuse the word Taliban support the only real enemy of Islam that has ever existed: and the name of this enemy? The desert! As they say their daily prayers to fill their cupped hands they refresh their faces not with water but with the dry sand of human misery.
The Afghan people away from the cities have lives that have not changed for centuries. It is this that makes them so tough and resilient. Why should a people stay in an area that is so hard to live in?
I suggest it is simply parochialism and critical mass in terms of people. They are a warm and pleasantly mannered people but poorly educated, who feel they have a right to bear arms and are in possession of a demanding code of honour. Cross them at your peril!
The way to defeat ‘Jesse James and the Hole in the Wall Gang’ that now intimidate the tribal chieftains is to give everybody access to television so that ordinary people may become aware of the world at large and the wonders of a civilisation that exists beyond their borders. Homer Simpson is bound to be an education?
Ref:
http://www.guimet.fr/Afghanistan-rediscovered-treasures
Alex Benee – yes, politics always gets in the way and I would go so far as to say that the war in Afghanistan is now hoisted on its own political petard!
The question of resources is a difficult one – on the whole senior personnel now feel that they have adequate protections in terms of body armour etc BUT they are still a relatively small force fighting a pervasive enemy. Perhaps the surge indicated by the Americans at some point next year will help?
Senex – someone recently described Afghanistan as a confederation of mediaeval settlements and there is some truth in this. Apart from the 4-5 major cities Afghanistan is still a de-centralised series of local warlordships, each having absolute control over their areas and with the arms to maintain control.
The country has never been governed from the centre and the experience of governance so far has not been good, too much corruption and not enough public service. This really is the crux of the matter, if the Government could deliver then the people would be prepared to distance the Taliban and possibly even get rid of the poppies.
One thing Afghans have is a terrific sense of humour so Homer Simpson would, I’m sure, appeal.