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Is it me or are ‘commentators’ totally weird ? Since it was announced that British Forces would hand over Sangin to US Marines, there have been so many ‘Defeat’ articles as to be unbelievable. One in the Independent was by some ‘Nut Job’ who has written a book on Iraq:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/richard-north-another-halfhearted-war-another-defeat-2023711.html

To me, the most worrying thing about our deployment in Afghanistan is how we got to this point. Nine years ago, SAS and SBS units helping the “Northern Alliance” was about right but John Reid as Defence Secretary casually starting this deployment with a public view expressed in The Commons, that they (troops), “Will probably come home without a shot being fired…” is indicative of where we are today and how we got there, we got here via complacency.

There Is a Connection

Although I am sure that some of what Dr North says is broadly correct, I would not trust his opinion at all simply because he has already taken a view of the Iraq War and seems to be just projecting the same towards Afghanistan. Besides which, most of the above article could have been written any time in these past 4 years.

Yes, there is an obvious single connection which was the total unwillingness of Brown and Blair to face up to the task in Iraq and then Afghanistan so that in both cases, our forces were not deployed in numbers, were not properly equipped and insufficient funding was made available for it. War should always be avoided but if deemed necessary, it should be done properly at every level. It is said that Generals always start off fighting the “Last War”, to me it seems that Dr North as an author is “fighting his last book”.

If maintaining the connection to the USA as a ‘dependable friend’ is as seems the case, a corner stone of British Foreign Policy then the Government, any Government, needs to place a numerical value on that. This Afghan situation is the worst of all worlds and we should never allow ourselves to be in this situation ever again. Dependable allies are those that never over promise, they promise what they can deliver and do so efficiently.

Leaving Sangin

Like many writers in the media, Dr North seems to concentrate on the withdrawal from Sangin as some kind of retreat which is illogical, it clearly makes no sense having 1200 troops detached from the main British body of Forces surrounded by American Marines, of course you move them, any suggestion to the contrary is daft. People seem to forget that the original British Military planning was never based on trying to hold the whole area because they had insufficient troops, Infantry is designed to take and hold territory. This change in the original mission came about via pressure from the Karzai Government and the West trying to placate him and keep him on side, it was a mistake, a tragic mistake for many of our troops.

Whilst the British area is now smaller, it contains around 30% of the population of Helmand which means that between the 20,000 US Marines deployed to the North and the South of Helmand, we are finally getting towards a more sensible troop/civilian ratio to give adequate and realistic reassurance to the population that they can support a Central Afghan Government without fear of reprisals in the night.

Learning From the Past

Both we and the Americans can learn from the past but, it isn’t from Iraq, this nasty little war has elements from both Malaya and Vietnam which are more relevant. From Malaya the idea of “Fortified Villages” where the inhabitants could be rapidly supported by Military units if they were attacked. Building these villages out from a secure Government controlled centre like a ‘security inkblot’ working outwards and fully connected. How not to do it was putting groups of British troops in isolated forward operating bases where helicopters were the only means of supply and they were under constant siege, it was total madness because politically that just wouldn’t impress the ‘natives’ about what you could do for them would it ?

The lesson from Vietnam is even simpler and not even military but political. South Vietnam was totally corrupt at pretty much every level as is Afghanistan and whilst one may talk about complex tribal loyalties and relationships, the simple fact is whilst some countries (France and Italy come to mind), may ‘understand’ such things, Western Democracies just really cannot be seen to be supporting the type of total corruption at every level that is seen in Afghanistan.

Conclusion

However, we are where we are and a rapid withdrawal, however desirable, is not really possible so here’s to the American Mid-Terms and the run in for the next Presidential Race. However and from a British perspective, concentrating our Forces so that they can do some good and even be successful in their ‘unintended mission’ to me is a positive result from the current changes.

I may well feel sorry for the US Marines who will take over Sangin and their families but then, American Forces have different “Force Protection” routines so perhaps, I should feel more sorry for the Afghans or maybe, both !