Britain to put in more troops as attacks mount

[Joanne98]

Britain to put in more troops as attacks mount

By Marie Woolf and Raymond Whitaker
Published: 09 July 2006

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1168219.ece
Britain's beleaguered troops in southern Afghanistan are to be heavily reinforced after a request from defence chiefs. Des Browne, the Secretary of State for Defence, will tell the Commons this week that a force of up to 1,000 soldiers, including combat troops and logistical support, will be urgently sent to the country.

Military commanders put in a formal request for extra support last Thursday after British forces in Helmand, Afghanistan's main opium poppy-growing area and one of the country's most lawless provinces, came under sustained attack from resurgent Taliban forces.

Six British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan over the past three weeks. The Muslim funeral of one of them, L/Cpl Jabron Hashmi, was held yesterday at the Central Jamia Mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham.

The reinforcements are thought to be coming from the 16 Air Assault Brigade, which already forms the core of the 3,300-strong force deployed in Helmand. They will be backed by logistical staff, who will replace around 800 military engineers who have been building the main base at Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, and forward bases in the province.

[acmavm]

1. So, dumping more resources into the fight that should have been fought

because the fight that was unnecessary drained so many resouces from this one it was unwinnable.

My description of Afganistan in one convoluted sentence.

[Joanne98]

3. I guess the rumors about Afganistan heating up are true.

[ninkasi]

6. This whole disaster is convoluted

thanks to Lord Pissypants. He never cared about Afghanistan anyway. He wanted to invade Iraq, and wanted to invade even before he stole the first election. If he had concentrated on eliminating Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, many, many more of our troops would be alive today, and Iraq would not be exploding in civil war as it is today. Now he has two fiascoes on his hands.

[acmavm]

7. And itching to start a third.

[ninkasi]

10. Oh, yeah

He wants to invade Iran so much, and he really doesn't care if the Middle East explodes, as long as America ends up controlling the oil. He's willing to have millions of other people pay for what he wants.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Bush didn't want the war to end in early 2002 with Bin Laden's capture

Bush always wanted to exploit 9-11 in order to push his radical imperialist agenda through a compliant Congress. Had the military gone into Afghanistan immediately after 9-11, rather than wait a full month to invade, it would have obliterated Al-Qaeda and its leadership. This is not the result that Bush wanted. Bush wanted to take over the oil fields of Iraq and dictate OPEC policy through a puppet regime in Baghdad. So as soon as Kabul was under our control and neocon Karzai put in place, Al-Qaeda stopped being a concern, and Bush was able to divert resources to his main target, Iraq.

Bush needs Bin Laden as much as Bin Laden needs Bush!

[ninkasi]

9. I agree completely, IG

I remain mystified, however, at the inability of so many Americans to see through the charade. Getting Bush installed as president for the purpose of invading Iraq was the goal of the PNACers all along. I think that's why they tried so desperately to get Clinton impeached, they felt that he set their goals back, and were not happy about it.

[cornermouse]

2. They might as well caption it "Britain wading deeper into the quicksand."

If we, the U.S., had enough people there to take actual control I could see Britain sending more troops but under the current circumstances as currently set up by the U.S., it really doesn't make Blair look very bright.

[applegrove]

4. All because * handlers wanted to go to Iraq and have a war president.

Afghanistan would be three years into democracy and not growing a poppy if the USA had stuck with fighting the people who attacked them on 9/11. Instead..they rang and ran. To Iraq.

[AbsoluteArmorer]

5. Bush's Afghan blunder

has become Canada and Britain's nightmare.

[PurityOfEssence]

11. Britain's already gotten its ass kicked in Afghanistan and Iraq before

This must be a lot of fun for any Brit with a scrap of knowledge of history...

Some corner of a foreign field that is forever England.