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Withdrawing British Troops from Afghanistan?

(5 posts)

  1. UK Voter
    Key Master

    Taking into account the problems in Afghanistan today, when will it be the right time for British troops to withdraw?

    It's a difficult question to answer, a simple answer would be ASAP, but that's not very helpful.

    Historically Afghanistan is a difficult place for any invading army to win what is a guerilla style war! The Russians failed (and we know how little they used to care for their soldiers lives) and currently we are failing.

    We went into Afghanistan to tackle the Taliban promoting terrorism after 9/11. Have we achieved the goal of stopping the Taliban promoting terrorism from Afghanistan? I'd say yes to some degree, but in other respects the problem has shifted to the Afghan/Pakistan border and there is an argument by having a war with Afghanistan we've created a new generation of terrorists (some home grown)!

    So what have we really achieved?
    Not a lot really in my opinion!

    Barack Obama is talking about an 18 month timetable to start the withdrawal, concept being we (America, Britain and other counties involved) send in more troops to stabilise the country and help train Afghan troops to take over the role of running Afghanistan in a more democratic way.

    My first question is what the heck has taken so long to come up with this plan?

    You'd think this would have been the plan from day one and we'd be well on our way to having a fully functional, well trained Afghanistan army. That is unless the numpties that devised the invasion plans all those years ago (the war began October 7, 2001, 8 years ago!) believed this would be easy:

    1. Take over Afghanistan (tick)
    2. Put in place a democratically elected government (tick)
    3. Sit back an wait for the Afghan people to thank us for giving them democracy (fail)
    4. Withdraw our troops
    5. Enjoy Afghanistan's new democratic status in the world, another member to our little club
    6. We all live happily ever after as peaceful trading nations

    We've removed the Taliban from government power, but we haven't destroyed the Taliban and if we left now they will start to take power back again through force. do I want British troops in Afghanistan, hell no, should we pull them out NOW and sod the consequences, again no. That leaves our troops stuck in a war we probably can't 'win' (win in the classic sense of winning) and a very poorly thought out post invasion plan.

    I find it concerning World War 2 was shorter than the Afghanistan war, as a group we are the most powerful army in the world by far and yet we can't even manage a relatively straight forward post invasion plan in 8 years!!!

    David

    General Election 2010 : Classic Literature : SEO Services
    Posted 8 months ago #

  2. James
    Member

    Im a retired soldier, served my country for 25 years and served during the first Iraqi war and support the British troops in ALL their endeavours and agree with what you said. Sooner we bring our serving lads and women home the better.

    I prey for our young men and women serving in Afghanistan every day and find it shameful the government do not supply them with the best equipment available.

    James

    Posted 8 months ago #

  3. Andrew Phillips
    Member

    British soldiers’ lives are one of the most valuable assets this nation has, and should only be risked in conflicts in which British interests are directly affected.

    This simple and logical core belief is paramount to the British National Party’s defence policy, which demands self-sufficiency for our island nation in all aspects.

    As such, the BNP is committed to withdrawing from the illegal and immoral wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the prosecution for war crimes of all Westminster officials who deliberately tricked this nation into those conflicts which have cost billions and at least 300 British lives.

    The people to be prosecuted for war crimes will include the leaders of the parliamentary political parties who supported the war – Labour’s Blair and Brown, the Tory’s Hague, Duncan Smith, Howard and Cameron – and all officials who conspired to prepare the pack of lies which provided the “justification” for the invasion of Iraq.

    A BNP government will never commit British troops to any conflict which does not directly affect British interests – ever.

    Britain can only be safe if it is able to defend itself without being dependent on any other country. Britain therefore needs to have a credible and independent defence against all threats – and the ability to use this wisely.

    Successive cuts in defence spending have left Britain’s armed forces perilously weak. We will boost Britain’s armed forces to ensure that they are able to deal with any emergency, and defend our homeland and our independence.

    The BNP’s defence policy is to:

    - Strengthen our conventional forces;

    - Retain a genuinely independent nuclear deterrent and produce all our weaponry in Britain;

    - Only commit British forces when British national interests are at stake;

    - Preserve and restore our historic County Regiments;

    - Bring our troops back from Germany and withdraw from NATO, since political developments make both commitments obsolete;

    - Close all foreign military bases on British soil;

    - Refuse to risk British lives in meddling ‘peacekeeping’ missions in parts of the world where no British interests are at stake;

    - Restore national service for our young with the option of civil or military service.

    The Guardian has become the first British national newspaper to report on the importance and significance of the Trans Afghanistan Pipeline (TAP) project — a subject vital to understanding the causes underpinning the Afghanistan war after only the British National Party’s Land & People previously reported on it.

    The following are some snippets from The Guardian’s report. The full article may be found by following the link.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/10/afghan-war-france-germany-europe

    http://landandpeople.bnp.org.uk/?p=4724

    Quote: About 25 countries have promised to send more troops to Afghanistan in response to President Obama’s call for extra support from Nato members.

    But France and Germany, the two European powers who could make a real difference, remain as hesitant as ever. French and German leaders now face a painful choice. Should they finally embrace Nato’s efforts in Afghanistan more wholeheartedly – which would mean accepting significantly more human and material sacrifices?

    Or should they or conclude that the war has already been lost, or that “success” does not merit the cost, and abandon the mission altogether?

    This is not about just about pre-empting future terrorist attacks on European capitals by stopping the Taliban from retaking the country.

    At stake in Afghanistan is the survival of the transatlantic alliance, Europe’s energy security and independence, and whether the deepening ties between Europe — especially Germany — and Russia, will eventually lead to the western integration of Russia, or instead, to it gaining a stranglehold over European energy security.

    In Afghanistan all three issues are interlinked. This fact remains largely ignored. Afghanistan is a crucial energy transit corridor in central Asia, potentially connecting the energy-rich central Asian republics with the Arabian Sea and/or the Indian Ocean.

    Stabilising Afghanistan — not just temporarily to justify withdrawal, but for good — is crucial for the anticipated Trans-Afghanistan pipeline from Turkmenistan to India (known as Tapi) to be built and its security to be guaranteed.

    The construction of Tapi is essential for Europe to diversify its energy supplies and reduce its dependence on oil and gas imports from the Gulf and Russia. Failure in Afghanistan, and by extension in Pakistan, would mean abandoning the construction of Tapi and in turn, pave the way for Russia to reassert its former hegemony in the region.

    The time has come for change.

    Vote BNP

    Save Britain

    Posted 8 months ago #

  4. jre371
    Member

    Let's look at the facts. Over the last year or two we have lost one serviceman on average every 3 days and the Afghans have lost at least as many individuals. What have we gained?

    Nothing that can substantiated. We may have averted terrorism, but maybe not.

    We have paid out billions of pounds on killing whereas we could have used that money to offset debt caused by the financial crisis or to fund the NHS.

    If you ask any serviceman to give their honest opinion they would most likely say that we should withdraw from this war. They are, however, all professionals who will rarely voice their own opinions; they will do the job asked of them by the British Government, and they will do it to the best of their ability.

    I say let's pull them out of Afghanistan. Contact the Afghans and agree a withdrawal; publicise it, talk to all the Afghan representatives including the Taliban and negotiate a safe withdrawal. We can then help the Afghans rebuild their economy through other means.

    Posted 6 months ago #

  5. UK Voter
    Key Master

    I still can't get over how long it's taken to realise we needed a plan beyond:

    Go in and kill the Taliban

    It doesn't take a battlefield tactics genius to realise for the invading army to leave there needs to be a replacement force to take it's place, AKA the Afghan army.

    As soon as they realised the current Afghan army wasn't up to the task it should have been one of the highest priorities to build a new Afghan army and police force.

    David

    Posted 6 months ago #

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