Posts Tagged 'Afghanistan'

AFGHANISTAN: TRUTH AND LIES

Published November 16, 2012 Afghan War , Afghanistan , British Defence , British Politics 4 Comments
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This is what Kabul has to look forward to whether we stay or not.

It is at least six years late, but finally a senior political figure has found the courage to call for an immediate withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan.  Lord Ashdown pulled few punches in his impassioned plea in The Times, criticising Britain’s early military strategy and accusing the government of becoming distracted by adventures in Iraq when it should have been focused on Afghanistan.

All true, but while Ashdown called out the government for its political failings, he neglected to mention the string of lies senior ministers have perpetuated about Afghanistan, or point the finger at senior military figures who’ve been more than willing to support that deceit. How any politician can say with a straight face that we are in Afghanistan to keep the streets of Britain safe is beyond me, when everyone knows our involvement has fuelled the flames of home grown terrorism.  Then there’s the lie of the moment—that Afghan troops can somehow be vetted to stop ‘rogue’ recruits from turning their weapons on their NATO mentors.  As I argued on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier this week, nothing can be done to stop green on blue attacks because an element of the men we’re trying to train up have viewed us as the enemy since we entered Afghanistan back in 2001.

I’ve been screaming it from the rafters since I started this blog and I’ll scream it again.  AFGHANISTAN IS NOT AN INSURGENCY. IT’S A CIVIL WAR AND WE’VE TAKEN ONE SIDE IN IT.  Since 2006 when British troops entered Helmand Province, they’ve been trying to win over the people on the other side of that conflict—a futile, senseless task presided over by sloping shouldered generals and senior military brass who care more about pleasing politicians than they do the lives of their troops.  These senior officers know who they are, and they should hang their heads in shame.  I really don’t know how they or their chums in government can sleep at night knowing how many brave British troops they have and continue to put in harm’s way for no other reason than to justify past mistakes.

Why is it taking our government so long to act in the best interest of our troops when our Canadian, Dutch and French NATO allies have found the political will to bring their forces home? There is no justification for Britain’s continued presence in Afghanistan. None. Continue reading ‘AFGHANISTAN: TRUTH AND LIES’

AFGHANISTAN: AN HONORABLE MP CALLS BRITAIN’S DEFENCE SECRETARY TO ACCOUNT

Published September 18, 2012 Afghan War , Afghanistan , British Defence , British Politics 3 Comments
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Spot the Rogue Soldier

The government was scrambling to save face this morning after getting blindsided by ISAF’s decision to severely restrict joint operations between NATO forces and Afghan Army and Police.  By the time Defence Secretary Philip Hammond appeared before Parliament to explain himself, he had donned his denial armour, claiming that Britain’s military operations in Afghanistan would be “substantially unchanged” by ISAF’s new policy.  He even went so far as to say he has “every confidence” in Britain’s strategy to train Afghan security forces to take over when Britain ends major combat operations in 2014.

How is that possible when this year alone more than 50 NATO soldiers including 9 Brits have been killed by Afghans they were tasked with training and mentoring? And those are the deaths we’ve heard about.  So called “rogue Afghan” security forces (AKA Taliban infiltrators) are also turning their weapons on well-intentioned Afghan Army and Police recruits as well as private security contractors working for the coalition—deaths that are all swept under the rug.

So why is Hammond refusing to acknowledge reality?  I can only conclude that the Government is placing its ego above the lives of our brave troops serving in Afghanistan.  It’s despicable. And I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Thankfully, there was an MP in the Commons today who had the guts to call Hammond out.  Labour MP Paul Flynn accused the Defence Secretary of being a liar and blasted the Government for using our soldiers as “human shields” to protect ministers’ reputations.  I couldn’t agree more.

Paul Flynn was expelled for his trouble, but that won’t silence the truth. The Government’s Afghan policy has been thoroughly discredited in the eyes of the public. Few people buy the excuse anymore that we’re there to protect Britain against terrorism or that the mission will produce a more stable country.   Afghanistan was in civil war long before we committed troops to the conflict and it will continue long after we’ve withdrawn them.   There is no justification for forcing our soldiers to pick up the tab for a policy that is doomed to failure.  Bring our troops home now. Ministers’ reputations be damned.

AFGHANISTAN 2014: THE BIGGEST MYTH OF ALL

Published September 6, 2012 Afghanistan , AfPak Politics , NATO 6 Comments
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Friend or Foe?

Only the most diehard ostrich believes official pronouncements on Afghanistan anymore.  The latest fiction in this endless, senseless, victor-less war involves the vetting of Afghan local police recruits. Following a spate of “green on blue” incidents (NATO’s sanitized shorthand for Afghan security forces gunning down or blowing up their ISAF mentors), General Adrian Bradshaw, the British deputy commander of ISAF, announced that the training of around a thousand Afghan Local police recruits had been suspended to allow for re-vetting.

The idea that Afghan recruits can be effectively vetted is ludicrous.  Putting aside the logistical challenges of deploying NATO staff to remote, often hostile villages to perform background checks, the lack of official records, the nation’s sky-high illiteracy rate, and the basic distrust of Afghans toward westerners in general, the fact is, the central government will never top the Afghan hierarchy of loyalties.  After thirty plus years of civil war, Afghans have learned how to prioritize their allegiances in order to survive.  Family comes first, then tribe.  Beyond that, nothing matters.   Continue reading ‘AFGHANISTAN 2014: THE BIGGEST MYTH OF ALL’

The Infidel Now Available on Kindle & Nook USA!

Published May 1, 2012 Afghan War , Afghanistan , Books 7 Comments
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I’m pleased to announce that The Infidel is now availabe for download on Kindle and Nook USA for the introductory price of only US$2.99  A modern-day Afghan war epic inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale The Man Who Would Be King, The Infidel was influenced by my work as a security advisor to media and diplomats in Kabul, Kunar, and Nuristan Provinces, Afghanisan.  My goal: create a cracking good page turner that would reveal the true nature of one of the deadliest conflicts of our time.

I am able to offer a substantial discount to readers in North America because I have published The Infidel myself in those territories and eliminated the premium associated with going through a traditional publishing house.  You can only take advantage of this special offer if you hold an Amazon or B&N account in North America or change your Kindle country settings to these territories.  Otherwise, you can purchase the ebook through Kindle UK, iBooks UK, and Waterstones UK.   And of course, the paperback is available to order through Amazon.co.uk and other UK and Commonwealth retailers.

Praise for The Infidel…

“The Infidel is an intelligent can’t-put-it-down adventure story written by an author who knows the heart and guts of NATO’s war in Afghanistan. If you want to know what we’re up against, read this book.”  — Karl Marlantes, Author, Matterhorn

“Shepherd’s boots on the ground experience exposes the raw and rugged beauty of Afghanistan and its people. His high intensity narrative is as bone jarring as it is gripping and provides valuable insight in to this complex country.”  — Nic Robertson, Sr. International Correspondent, CNN

“An old Afghan hand, Bob’s fingertips drip with the detail readers devour – from weapons and tactics to people and places. However, his knowledge is bang up to date and his insight into the political and social effects of military campaigns rival any Newsnight commentator.

More than that, Bob’s a great soldier who’s also a great storyteller. His characters are believable, his plot is epic in scale and his style blends muscle with understanding. This book is as comfortable on a shelf beside Kipling, Conan Doyle and Conrad as it is beside McNab, Ryan or Lee Child.”

—Stephen Armstrong, Sunday Times journalist

Afghanistan: 10 Years On For British Forces

Published October 7, 2011 Afghan War , Afghanistan , British Defence , British Politics 6 Comments
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Afghanistan, Graveyard of Empires

In 2004, two years before British troops were deployed to Helmand, I escorted two television journalists from Kabul to Lashkar Gah by road.  Operating outside the security bubble of Kabul and military embeds was a real eye opener.   It was obvious that the locals did not support the coalition. I encountered a group of young Taliban down by the Helmand River who told me that should western troops ever attempt to set up bases in their province, there would be blood; an ominous prediction which indeed proved true.

Over the years, unilateral media excursions in Afghanistan became increasingly risky due to the deteriorating security situation.   The Taliban were regrouping effectively, targeting NATO troops and anyone believed to be associated with the coalition.  The evidence was indisputable. NATO casualties were steadily increasing year after year as were deaths of NGO personnel, the lynchpin of NATO’s hearts and minds strategy. Conditions outside Kabul became so dangerous for aid organizations that many were forced to abandon their projects or contract them out to local third parties whose progress, not to mention use of foreign aid funds, was impossible to monitor.  Sadly though, the British public was largely unaware of what was really happening in Afghanistan because our military and political leaders insisted the campaign was going swimmingly.

One of the greatest misperceptions about the Afghan conflict is that the Taliban is waging an insurgency against NATO.   There is no insurgency in Afghanistan; it’s a civil war in which NATO has taken sides.  The distinction is crucial for understanding the limits of what can be achieved.    The coalition backs the tribes of the former Northern Alliance which has been engaged in a festering 30-year civil war with the Pashtoon tribes of the southern and eastern provinces.   Against this context, it is easy to see why British, American and other NATO forces have and continue to encounter such fierce resistance in Helmand. As far as the local Pashtoon are concerned, NATO has sided with their mortal enemies. Continue reading ‘Afghanistan: 10 Years On For British Forces’

bin Laden’s Death: A Game Changer in Pakistan

Published May 2, 2011 Global Security , Pakistan 10 Comments
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The death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of US forces will no doubt bring closure to many throughout the world who’ve lost loved ones to al-Qaeda’s terror campaign. But far from signalling the end of the battle for supremacy in South Asia, bin Laden’s demise only marks the end of the beginning.

The United States reportedly launched the attack on bin Laden’s luxury, Pakistani hideaway without informing the Pakistani authorities. The failure to gain prior consent lays bare the lack of trust which has characterized relations between Islamabad and Washington since the beginning of the War on Terror.  Speculation has been rife for years that Pakistan has been playing a double game with the West – posing as a cooperative ally in the war in neighbouring Afghanistan while secretly aiding the Afghan Taliban which gave bin Laden sanctuary.  Classified US documents posted online by Wikileaks repeatedly accuse the ISI, Pakistan’s most powerful intelligence agency, of supporting the Afghan Taliban. Continue reading ‘bin Laden’s Death: A Game Changer in Pakistan’

Britain’s Defence & Identity

Published September 20, 2010 British Defence 2 Comments
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He knows he's fighting a civil war.

The Strategic Defence Review was supposed to underpin a thoughtful and civilized discussion over the future capabilities of Britain’s armed forces.  Instead, the Government’s drive to slash budgets as soon as possible has spawned a wave of unseemly bickering as military chiefs scrap over which branch of the services should be gutted.

                The Government needs to back off and not just because compiling a review at breakneck speed and forcing decisions off the back of it is a formula for waste and insecurity.  Even if the data is unimpeachable and well considered, the sad truth is our military chiefs are in no frame of mind to decide what kind of wars we’ll be fighting in future—not when they have yet to come to terms with the one we are fighting right now. Continue reading ‘Britain’s Defence & Identity’

Karzai’s PSC Bluff?

Published August 18, 2010 Afghanistan 5 Comments
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Afghan private security

When Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants to show who’s in charge he doesn’t do it by halves.   His decree this week ordering all foreign and domestic PSCs operating in the country to disband by December is his most audacious power grab since he stole the Presidency last year– provided of course he really means to see it through. Continue reading ‘Karzai’s PSC Bluff?’

Leaving Sangin

Published July 8, 2010 Afghanistan 3 Comments
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They'll Take the Aid

The announcement that British forces will hand over control of Sangin to American troops has stirred some very powerful emotions. Despite military and Government insistence that the move is a logical redeployment; the decision has nevertheless provoked charges that the British military failed in Sangin and is running away.  

First, let’s separate the military brass from the brave soldiers doing the hard graft on the ground.  The British produce the finest soldiers in the world.   I have no doubt our forces could hang on in Sangin indefinitely, as the Paras proved in 2006 during the opening phase of Britain’s woefully undermanned and infamously underequipped deployment to Helmand.  Sadly, the number of boots on the ground was never increased sufficiently to allow British forces to dominate their area of operations; hence why they have managed to ‘hang on’ rather than turn the situation around. Continue reading ‘Leaving Sangin’

A Civil War – Not an Insurgency

Published June 22, 2010 Afghanistan 1 Comment
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Can he be won over?

It’s a grim milestone that with good leadership could have been avoided.  This week a Royal Marine wounded in Helmund Province became the 300th British service member to die as a result of operations in Afghanistan.  The tragic death has caused many Brits to pause and reflect, not only on the sacrifices made by our brave men and woman in uniform but on the broader issue of what our country can realistically achieve in Afghanistan. Continue reading ‘A Civil War – Not an Insurgency’

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