Acting Sergeant Michael Lockett, 29, was named yesterday as the latest victim of a roadisde bomb in Afghanistan. He was one of a group of soldiers from the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment who, on a previous tour of Afghanistan, attempted repeatedly during the night of 8 September, 2007, to recover the body of Private Johan Botha, who had been on his first overseas tour since joining the Mercians.
For his bravery Sgt Lockett received the Military Cross.
Sgt Lockett, who was from Monifieth near Dundee, was the 217th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001 and the 212th since the campaign in Helmand began in 2006.
He leaves behind 3 young children.
Anthony Lloyd writes in the Times this morning 'Troops are fighting a losing battle not a lost cause'. It's not a view with which I completely agree but it is essential all opinions are considered if we want to withdraw our soldiers from this needless and historically unwinnable war.
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11 comments:
I think the whole campaign is utter lunacy, and more than anything else is completely and utterly unwinnable, and always will be. Which is no reflection on the troops it's a reflection on the nature of Afghanistan.
To me it is just a waste of both British and Afghan lives. The objectives are unclear, the strategy seems a failure as the Taliban are gaining ground, and Al Q far from being cornered seem to have moved on to Yemen and Somalia.
I may be cynical but I think this is all about building an oil line.
It seems to me that Brown is just moving what to him are toy soldiers about a board with no clear idea what he is doing, and his only excuse is that other countries seem to have made the same mistake. Although their soldiers are not dying as much as ours and US soldiers are dying. In my view pointlessly.
It may be stating the obvious but I think if someone like Michael Lockett, who appears from all accounts to have been a thoroughly decent man, is going to lay down his life for his country, then it should be in defence of his country, or to further the interests of his country. I don't think either of these two tests are met.
My sympathy goes to his widow and children. That is the difficult thing. You don't want to sound like you are saying your man and your dad lost his life for the vanity of an insane PM. But I think he probably did.
It's all about power Observer and nothing whatsoever about 'protecting our streets' by which, I presume, politicians mean protecting the people of the UK.
It's about wealth too of course, oil pipes, minerals - even arms because we're actually helping buy the fertiliser which makes their bombs (I posted about that earlier this month).
I'll say it, I'll say it as often as I need to. These men are dying and being so seriously injured just to boost the ego of a madman or madmen, because Tony Blair was the first to send our troops to a war which had nothing to do with our security whatsoever.
For both these men it was more important to pander to the whims of the US than to think what they were sending soldiers into.
And of course there was John Reid 'They're off to help in Afghanistan and I doubt if a shot will be fired' or words to that effect.
Each and every one of them a coward - because they can't even be honest with themselves.
Sorry to rage. I've just been watching the BBC1 programme Wounded.
Yes. You are right to rage.
It's more complicated than Iraq because it's a legal war.
And you always have to separate that. We can't march because it's happened and it's legal and we have to make sure that nothing we do undermines the troops cos we ain't criticising them.
But we need to bombard our MP's with e mails and protests as individuals, because this is utterly wrong.
He laid down his life for the corporate agenda.
" ... it's a legal war."
That makes it all better - yer daddy laid down his life for a legal corporate war.
Here's how to win the "Afghan War":
Bomb the fuck out of them, wait for them to rebuild, and do it all again - ad infinitum. This will work and plays to our strengths - but doesn't produce profit for Halliburton.
This so called "war" will last as long as folks tolerate it.
Compare that photograph of Sgt. Lockett with the one at the top of SR's previous post.
Revulsion isn't strong enough a word.
That's my thought too scunnert. Constantly I'm hearing politicians say 'they're not getting the message across to the public'.
Time the public roared back ' oh we get the message but we don't believe it'.
No I think eventually the public will rise up and shout enough. Surely more will see the uselessness of war if we have more programmes like this.
Observer, we aren't in Afghanistan legally because our soldiers are in a war and war hasn't with Afghanistan hasn't been declared by Parliament.
Of course we know it's war and the military know it's war, but if it was declared a war then the military would be able to request war conditions to their service.
Craisy Daisy would be better at explaining this - that is the difference between being at war and a conflict in the eyes of legalities and governments.
You're right Jim, it isn't.
SR,
I predict a riot.
How long do we just stand and stare?
CD
I don't know CD. What's up with the people on this island that they allow politicians to make these wrong decisions and don't protest.
Surely the Stop the War campaign has something up their sleeve.
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