100th soldier dead but generals carry on

Well the day has arrived which we all feared would, the day when the 100th British soldier would die in Afghanistan. Another family mourns, and bang on cue, Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, is rolled out to assure the public that things are going well and progress is being made in Afghanistan. The Guardian reports the following comments from the head of the army:


General Sir David Richards, head of the army, paid tribute to the latest victim, adding: "The temptation to judge this essential campaign by casualties alone undervalues the tremendous efforts of our forces and our allies, and the progress they are making".



Richards said there were "real grounds for optimism". "We have made substantial progress in Helmand and throughout Afghanistan. Political resolve is firm; the necessary resources and manpower will be flowing into Afghanistan to allow us to do the job."

Political resolve may be firm but whose political resolve? That of the Labour government and the Tory opposition? That of the generals? Or that of the Lib Dems whose leader is quoted in today's Guardian:

The Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, said: "Everyone now hopes that the new strategy will succeed so that British soldiers can come back home with their heads held high and in the knowledge that their sacrifices have not been in vain."

Certainly not the political resolve of the British people who have shown in poll after poll that they do not support this war. A war to uphold the Karzai government, which itself is despised by most of the Afghan people as a corrupt set of warlords and drug dealers. Well at least they are not telling us that it will all be over by Christmas, which is what the generals told the public in 1914. No, it will all be over by 2011, according to Obama. Anyone who believes that needs to contact their local mental health organisation.

This war goes on and the casualty lists mount. Lambeth Stop the War are meeting at the South Bank on Sunday at 3.30pm to demonstrate against its futility, with candles and placards. That is where we should be demonstrating political resolve against the war.

The history of British involvement in Afghanistan should be a grim warning. It was the Duke of Wellington, possibly Britain's greatest military tactician who commented: “It is easy to get into Afghanistan. The problem is getting out again.” The generals and the politicians are leading us on a grim dance of death in Afghanistan and there is no exit strategy.