Didn't see this coming at all did we?
I suppose I should count myself fortunate that I've come unscathed though three of the biggest foreign policy f**k ups this country has ever made (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya) unlike many others. I'm just thankful I'm not still in to get involved in the next one.
One thing that had always bothered me was that it was obvious to me , a mere Sgt, on my first Afg det in Feb 2002, that we weren't going anywhere and we were never going to 'win'. Surely it was obvious to CDS, CAS and just about every one else? Or were they more interested in honours, pensions, promotion, justifying the existence of their respective services.
True the politicians carry a fair amount of the blame for this mess, but our own leadership isn't completely blameless.