Two respected political commentators have written about the situation in Afghanistan in the past few days, James Forsyth in the Spectator and Matthew Parris in the Times.
James Forsyth's opening paragraph is interesting:
... we must begin to extricate ourselves, but not in a sudden way that looks like defeatism and a snub to America.
He then criticises army ceremonies to the extent of stating 'the military has a strong cultic dimension'. He further adds that 'it has intensely powerful rituals and a sense of shared purpose which is not a bad thing: it makes a culture of service and sacrifice possible. But we must be wary about this religiosity seeping into the debate about whether a distant war should be fought'. May I suggest that ritual adheres all of us to each other. We need rituals for security and emotional well-being.
Matthew Parris has a couple of thought provoking sentences within his article:
It is not reasonable to suggest that Britain simply declare national defeat, turn tail and abandon our US ally at months’ notice. Canada, Spain and the Netherlands can do this because their contribution is relatively small. Ours (there is about one British soldier there for every eight Americans) is not.
Note both authors mention we must not upset the US at any price. In my naivety, I cannot understand why we are so enamoured by the US when we have settled the heavy debt for their help in WW2. Is it because Britain feels the need to continue paying or do we not have enough confidence in Europe? Canada and Spain are much larger countries than Britain yet they have not contributed a great amount of their troops. Is it because they know this war is not ours to fight? Is it because we need to borrow more money from the US? On Newsnight tonight Barack Obama's fiscal policy was discussed and it was agreed it wasn't working. Doesn't bode too well for Gordon Brown if he thought he could easily acquire a loan.
I shall leave you to read both articles and make your own judgements. Let me quote Matthew Parris' starting point:
So my starting point is this: the Western effort in Afghanistan is misconceived. It cannot create the stable democracy it seeks. We should never have got ourselves into this.
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13 comments:
At last the ritual and ceremonial nature of the enterprise is coming through MSM.
The correspondents should go check the Time Monks to follow the larger meme.
It's not pretty, and should be treated as a warning rather than future reality.
Either way all NATO forces should be out.
No questions.
Heads up.
I have felt such sorrow at yet another death. I also grieve for the perceived enemy. it is madness and I despair,as you will see, Subrosa if you have a valuable moment to nip over. Anon 1942 should read 2009.
It has to stop.
I will go down to Wootton Bassett next week.
Most Nato countries would seem to agree with you Incoming, that is if you grade their enthusiasm on their military numbers.
LotF, did you know there is a Wootton Bassett Facebook page? CD told me about it. Some touching poetry etc on it. Also there is much emphasis from residents about the fact the page is about our fallen returning home and not about the people of the town.
Very interesting in places and I'm not a fan of Facebook. Possibly because I can't see how it works!
"Canada and Spain are much larger countries than Britain"
This may be nitpicking, but despite being much larger in terms of area both Canada and Spain have smaller populations than that of the United Kingdom. Further, the UK is one of only five permanent members of the UN security and thus are always likely to have more troops serving on overseas operations.
Just thought it worth mentioning.
Keith it's not nit-picking at all. I should have checked the figures and I apologise for not doing so. Somewhere at the back of my mind I thought Canada had more than the UK and with Spain I truthfully again thought it was. That just shows you my very limited knowledge of Spain.
Yes I do know we are only one of 5 permanent members although I can ask why have France not produced more troops with us being part of the EU.
Of course China and Russia, two other permanent members, don't wish to become involved. That may be sensible.
Again I apologise for my statement, but still France in particular as a permanent member, does not meet the percentage of UK troops in the least. They have a similar population to us but only around 3,000 troops. Few seem to be deployed on the front line and they have had far fewer casualties.
SR,
It was me that told you about it not CD sorry.
I said it hasd 38K hits in 24hrs
Fastest take up in facebook land.
I will be off next week for a day.
Auch LotF, I'm so sorry getting mixed up, my apologies. Of course you're right, I should have checked back but was downloading an update and knew that would be slow.
Did you join the Facebook?
Do something exciting on your day now.
Off To WB cabt say it will be exciting.
But will go.
Ah I see LotF. No I doubt if it will be but I'm sure you'll make the most of it. My head's not connecting my brain these days is it? lol I should have realised what you meant initially.
Fascinating. I suppose that if Brown or Cameron declared that they were going to withdraw the troops from afghanistan there would be some kind of CIA false flag operation. Perhaps Dundee's Law Hill would be occupied by giant swine-flu infected ninjas, or perhaps the News of the World would publish photos of the British cabinet and assorted Defence Chiefs in bed with some youthful girl guide troop from Lochee.
Hi Nona, clever comment indeed, but I know you're not a Dundonian with your description of The Law. Being brainwashed at a young age, 'law' means 'hill' so no Dundonian calls it the Law Hill. As if lol.
It will always be the Law or more commonly the Law Hill but I'm sure younger Dundonians will be far more linguistically correct than me.
The thought of those in power in bed with a Lochee guide troop makes me laugh. I doubt if the powerful would survive more than a few minutes!
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