Afghanistan is lost

[snapper41]

According to Lord Ashdown:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=U3A1XUULCZADVQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/10/25/wafg125.xml

[VinRouge]

Ah well, does that mean we can all come home then and leave the bastards to it?

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

I recall that the Lord Ashdown was most unwilling to replicate in the 'Stan his former role in the Balkans. From the Today programme this morning, I got the impression that his reply combined sex with travel.

[autothrottle]

Well done Lord Ashdown! Morale boosting comments like this really help! :mad:

From someone whose brother is serving with 40 Commando RM in Helmand at the moment.

[wokkameister]

Afghanistan is not lost



I know F@~}{ng well where it is, I keep getting sent there!

WM

[buoy15]

Wokka

Excellent response - you made I larrf !

I gather from this you are not Air Rank or an MP then?;)

[Basil]

wokkameister,
ROTFL - easy when I'm too old to be sent there ;)

I was surprised, years ago, by Paddy's politics given his background but not to say he isn't giving his honest assessment in this case.

A nation as steeped in international politics (esp THAT area) as ours should have known to keep out.
We did however owe the USA one for assistance with the Falklands etc.
Mind you, with their experience in Vietnam, one would have thought the US would have had the diplomatic nous to leave it to stew in its own juice.
Ah but, of course, no one would mention the elephant in the room which wanted Saddam sorted :*

[Utrinque Apparatus]

And the basis for his wonderful sense of accurate assessment is based on what, his time as an MP, or his scant time in all those years ago ? Tw@t

It might be useful to reflect on where we might be today if Al Qaeda had gone unpunished in Afghanistan, for they certainly have been, and that pr**k Saddam was still in the driving seat - another Iran / Iraq war and we would stil have to go in and mallet the bad guys eventually.

Burst the boil now and get it over with, and take that little crazy Ahmedinajad back to Hamleys to play with other more benign toys. He's got enough in the Geneva banks to buy himself some.

[Ray Ban]

That region whilst beautiful, has always been a lawless and unruly kingdom. History has shown us that over and over again! Tribal leaders and warlords continually fighting each other and then often uniting against outsiders! Given enough time, the war may well be won but I have my doubts as to whether the peace will follow.

[Squirrel 41]

I've got a lot of time for El Paddy, but this is, sadly, bo:mad:ocks.

Afghanistan is not lost, it was always going to be a 20+ year commitment to rebuild the place and provide a security framework within which to do it.

And getting it right is massively in our interests - winning hearts and minds to keep our streets safer in UK.

Autothrottle: BZ to your brother!

S41

[chevvron]

Hardly surprising; various nations have been trying to establish 'rule' there for some 200 years without success; even the Soviet armed forces had to admit defeat 20 odd years ago.
Let's face it, we're only there because of the 'knee jerk' reaction by the USA after 9/11; had that not have happened no doubt the yanks would have found some other excuse for invading.

[Magnersdrinker]

20 plus years to fix, well I dont think its our problem and should wash our hands of it now !! We have barely enough cash to support our own country never mind somebody elses !!

Comments like that just make us all wonder what the **** are we doing there !!

[RileyDove]

The situation in Afghanistan hasn't really helped at all in the drug trade. The production of the poppy is now higher than under the Taliban regime. Coupled with the seeming ease with which groups can move in and out of our Pakistan and the future seems rather unpredictable. An accessment of twenty years to rebuild and stabilise the country seems optomistic . At what stage could the country realistically stand on it's own when the present party doesn't seem to exert much influence outside of Kabul.
Realistically the West can contain some of the warlike intentions of the various tribal factions but thats all.

[A and C]

I don't think that any one would dispute that a number of radical terrorist groups use Afganistan for training, part of the object of being in Afganistan is to disrupt the operations of these groups.

The choice is simple, take the battle to the terrorists and fight in Afganistan or have the terroists bring the battle to the streets of Europe & the USA.

[Brian Abraham]

take the battle to the terrorists and fight in Afganistan or have the terroists bring the battle to the streets of Europe & the USA

I was thinking perhaps there are enough terrorists on the streets of the Old Dart without taking a trip overseas. By comparision Europe & the USA thus far (9/11 aside) seem fairly benign.

[RileyDove]

A&C - Nice idea - however an number of these radicals seem to be using Pakistan as a training ground too ! Do we declare war on one of the partners
in the war on terror? Similarily what worrys me is that a number of the 'homegrown' bombers that struck in the U.K seem to have used parts of North Wales for team building and paintball etc! Should we outlaw paintball and team building courses in the U.K ?
The seems to be a convienient tie with Afgahanistan for training - sadly I am of the opinion that refinned training can take place anywhere . The thing we need is vigilance - fighting a war of attrition in Afghanistan is just killing the foot soldiers of the Taliban - it doesn't stop the causes of resentment
in Muslim society nor address the ability to gain information from other sources - i.e the internet.

[VinRouge]

Just throw the trouble-making jinglies out of our country... MI5 knows of at least 2000 of them, so why not deport them??!?!?

We know where they are going, as soon as they get there, how about execution 500 lb Stylee? nothin like the message you mess with the UK, you get modern warfare thrown your way surely?

[Mike7777777]

The 3rd Afghan War will probably follow the same route as the 1st and 2nd.

I suggest we invite the Russians to invade (again) only this time we won't let the CIA provide the terrorists/insurgents/freedom fighters with Stingers.

My two step solution to the drug problem is:

Year 1: negotiate with the poppy growers, offering cash crop alternatives; amnesty for the drug dealers; sensitive medical treatment and support for the users.

Year 2: Napalm the poppy fields, shoot the dealers and cold turkey for the junkies

Problem solved.

[normally right blank]

Apart from Lord Ashdown, candidates under consideration for the new enhanced role include Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, the serving French foreign minister, and Jaroslav Kaczynski, the former Polish prime minister who lost Sunday's general election.

Lord Ashdown was probably p****d at being in this "line up"! :ouch:

[scribbler614]

Dunno if it's lost or not, but there's a recent media report worth a glance, giving a bit of credit to the Odiham community, working their little socks off in the 'Stan. Scroll down to the pic of Kajaki dam...

:D:D:D

http://hickleyblog.dailymail.co.uk/