Afghan Deja-Vu

An interesting view on the Afghan War here about how British and American blundering are contributing to the resurgence of the Taliban.

THE former aide-de-camp to the commander of the British taskforce in southern Afghanistan has described the campaign in Helmand province as “a textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency”.

“Having a big old fight is pointless and just making things worse,” said Captain Leo Docherty, of the Scots Guards, who became so disillusioned that he quit the army last month.

“All those people whose homes have been destroyed and sons killed are going to turn against the British,” he said. “It’s a pretty clear equation — if people are losing homes and poppy fields, they will go and fight. I certainly would.

“We’ve been grotesquely clumsy — we’ve said we’ll be different to the Americans who were bombing and strafing villages, then behaved exactly like them.”

Read the rest of it here. It documents the absoulute incompetence and futility of the tactics deployed in Afghanistan. Making the same mistakes as countless other invading armies have made. Why doesn't anybody learn the hard lessons of Afghanistan?

Source: Times Online