Afghanistan, a country with a culture completely different to the West, but one which the West feels compelled to change.
Over the past months I have read so many accounts of why the UN is in Afghanistan I became completely confused at times. But having read
this article by William Engdahl, he reiterates some of my own thoughts.
The US have a tendency to invade countries for spurious reasons but Engdahl states they are in Afghanistan to restore and control the world's largest supply of of opium for the world heroin markets and to use the drugs as a geopolitical weapon against opponents, especially Russia. The control of the Afghan drug market is essential for the liquidity of the bankrupt and corrupt Wall Street financial mafia.
You could argue - why then did the British military attempt to destroy all the poppy fields when they initially arrived in great numbers two years ago? I suggest that was an error from the Westminster politicians who, through utter incompetence, decided the action would impress the public. After all, aren't drugs in our society a problem? What this did do was completely alienate our troops from the local Afghanis whose warlords decided to make life for them as difficult as possible.
How often have we heard our politicians say the reason we are there is because of the Al-Qaeda threat to our islands? If Engdahl is to be believed, Al-Qaeda, for all practical purposes, does not exist in Afghanistan. Even in neighbouring Pakistan, the remnants of Al-Qaeda are scarcely to be found.
Afghanistan now has a puppet government, courtesy of the US, who ignore the Afghan style of government which is locally based rather than centralised. The US wants a central government in Kabul. The recent election, in which 10 British soldiers died and many more were seriously injured, has been shown to be a farce so, in order not to lose face, the US pressurise their placeman, President Karzia into calling a run-off, which will be held on 7 November.
Afghani warlords will never accept control from a central government in Kabul.
This is not only a costly mistake in terms of money, men and politics, but a complete error of judgement, particularly as President Obama appears to intend to wait until Afghanistan settles its election before decideing to send in more troops.
The Taliban now know the tactics the UN troops will use to ensure this second election goes ahead and they will be well prepared - how often does your 'enemy' get a second chance at killing you?
We must also be well prepared for more body bags to be returning to the UK, more soldiers spending the rest of their lives with horrendous injuries and more families left grieving forever.
Or will we finally waken up to the fact that our politicians are perfectly happy to see our young sacrifice their lives in our names, for their political posturing and the lies they attempt to convey regularly to us.
What is it going to take for the more of the public turn against the deployment of our armed forces in this country? Are we slowly becoming immune to the sight of coffins slowly being driven through the streets of Wootton Bassett or is it because the coffin doesn't contain your son, daughter, husband, father?
We must all take responsibility for our military services and not leave it to ignorant politicians to play with their lives.
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