Shameless politicians declare Afghan victory
by Ken Ferguson - 28th July 2009
In week which saw the death of Harry Patch, the last survivor of the imperialist slaughter of World War One, the Union Jack draped Prime Minister Brown announced the “success” of operation Panther’s Claw.
The near hundred years which lie between Harry Patch’s ordeal and the Helmand “victory” are littered with examples of the bloodstained reality behind the democratic mask of “Great Britain”.
From the bombing of Iraqi villages after the first world war through military repression in Ireland via a long list of colonial wars their is an unbroken thread of brutality in supposed “defence” of democracy.
Wherever these actions took place—Kenya, Aden, Cyprus, Suez—the official story has always been the same. Gallant British troops facing down “terrorists” who usually object to having their country occupied.
Time and time again the script has been played out as the self same terrorists are eventually invited to talks with elite diplomats and ministers, a deal reached and, hey presto, the “terrorists” become statesmen and are left to run the show.
And its happening again.
As Brown gravely deployed his best Churchill manner to hail the success of Panther’s Claw in liberating an area about the size of Arran the hard nosed diplomats and soldiers who know the score were talking to the Taliban.
The next stage will be a propaganda drive to explain that there are two Talibans—the “hard core” and the “moderates” and that it is only realistic to reach an agreement with the latter.
Expect to be told , by the way, that these talks are taking place from a “position of strength” as a result of the intensive military operation just so successfully concluded.
No mention will be made of the reality that 3,000 elite British troops backed by high tech weapons have been hard pressed to deal with an estimate 500 Taliban to wrest back temporary control of the contested area.
Reporting of the deaths of soldiers cannot be dodged but a veil is drawn over the growing toll of seriously injured with one medic saying to BBC Radio that there “have been injuries like you've probably never seen or experienced", referring to the horrific wounds roadside bombs can inflict.
Over 1,000 of such bombs have been used against British troops in the last three months and so great were the causalities inflicted that extra replacement troops had to be sent.
Behind all the fine talk about “breaking the chain of terror” the reality is—as the generals are telling Brown—that to hold the limited ground wrested from the Taliban will require even more troops and almost certainly more dead.
As this reality filters through to the public the questioning of the cost in death, injury and cash grows and with it the political costs mount for Brown.
Panther’s Claw cost an estimated £3 million a day so, for example, one days fighting costs would have kept the recently closed Glasgow schools open for a year. It lasted five weeks.
Next month sees the Afghan elections and it seems likely that whatever government emerges will be under US and UK pressure to reach a deal with the famous “moderates” to provide a fig leaf for getting out of the Afghan mire.
As each day passes it becomes clearer that a military victory can only be won—if at all—at immense human and financial cost and that all the tales about Afghan wars making London and Glasgow safer are largely hot air.
It is surly long past time to go.