Can anyone justify this war in Afghanistan?
I WAS in tears almost every night this week as I watched the news bulletins from Afghanistan: the extinguishing of the lives of so many brave, hopeful young men sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban; the dignified but wretched grief of their families back home; the determination and heroism of the boys who have lost limbs, eyes, and in some cases minds.
Those of us who cry, “what is this all for?” are told we are missing “the bigger picture”. But what Is the bigger picture, exactly? To “secure free and democratic elections in Afghanistan”? How, when a little
digging by the BBC this week revealed widespread corruption and the wholesale flogging off of ballot forms? The voting itself proved to be patchy.
To “deny our enemies a base for operations against us”? Our troops are certainly straining every sinew and sweating blood to do that but how can they succeed when it is glaringly obvious they don’t have enough men, enough properly armoured vehicles, helicopters, surveillance technology, enough of virtually anything other than sheer, raw courage?
I don’t pretend to know much about military strategy or “the bigger picture” but I know this: if you don’t have the right tools or enough manpower to do a job, you can’t do it. I also know that like most of us I am confused about “the bigger picture” because no one in this Government can explain it properly.
Gordon Brown mixes generalisations with sentiment and our toothbrush-moustached defence chief Bob ainsworth has all the presence and command of the language of your average traffic warden.
It is obvious there are big, indeed crucial affairs at stake in Afghanistan but I cannot think of a single senior politician who is capable of articulating them. Nearly 30 years ago Margaret Thatcher found the words and the philosophy to justify sending a task force halfway around the world to liberate the Falklands from a despot.
The situation in afghanistan is more complicated and confused than during the Falklands war. But it is a war nevertheless and our young men are dying in its cause. so stand up Gordon, cut the waffle and
justify those deaths (and those to come) properly. If you don’t have it in you to do that, find someone who can.
The country is very nearly out of patience. There is much explaining to do.