About Time Too

Brown has announced an extra 500 troops are to go to Athganistan. A welcome announbcement by many including the former head of the British Army, Gen. Sir Richard Dannet who has been calling for more troops for over a year now.

However, perhaps one of the most interesting parts of Brown’s statement to the Commons this afternoon was when he said that the extra troops will not be deployed until they are properly equipped. Perhaps this is a quiet admittance that troops currently serving have not been equipped properly whether that be with guns that work in the dusty condidtions, or helicopters which can move troops quickly. We know that Brown halved the helicopter budget during his time as chancellor and we know that guns have been jamming upo with the dust so  maybe the government has finally realised that it’s propably not best to send troops into combat without the correct gear.

The overarching problem here is that I, like many others are unconvinced what the actual aims are in Afghanistan, just what does the government hope to achieve and what is the overall strategy? These and other serious questions need answers and fast. I’ve spoken to serving members of the armed forces and they are less than clear as to what the strategy is. If they don’t know (and these are brigadiers, not just foot soldiers) then how on earth are they meant to know how to fight the war?

Yes, we have this theme of ridding the world of terrorism, but merely shooting at some Taliban forces in Helmand will not root that out. The problem stretches much further and deeper than that. Indeed, a growing problem is that of Pakistan. Sooner or later military intervention of some form is going to become a necessity in Pakistan. They are consistently proving that they are incapable of running their country and more importantly clamping down on Islamic extremists – maybe it’s time to take some direct action.