This morning's Independent paints quite an awful picture of British troops in North Helmand province.
In an article which will add to the pressure on the government to pull out of Afghanistan Terri Judd describes a base that the troops call Stalingrad
Beyond the hulking form of Mount Doom, an ominous landmark dominating the skyline, the enemy fighters operate freely across the district and into the mountains of Baghran. They are held back by a circle of a dozen small patrol bases – inhabited by British and Afghan forces – that stand on the front line and battle any incursion from the insurgents who surround them in every direction. A home-made wooden sign in one camp said it all: "Welcome to Stalingrad
Reading this after reading the Economist's leading article over the weekend,it seems to be that our tactics including that of propping up the corrupt regime of President Karzai need to be seriously examined.
As the Economist points out
The country’s unruly tribes and mountainous landscape make the place hard to pacify. Voters thousands of miles away struggle to remember why their soldiers are dying there.bt it is the type of democracy that we are trying to implement that is wrong.The constitution written after the Taliban regime was toppled
envisages a centralised state. Provincial governors, for example, are appointed by the president. This flawed framework needs to be replaced with one which reflects the reality of a diverse, decentralised country. Agreeing on a new constitution would also help shift the focus of political debate and get around the election debacle.
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