CAN someone please tell me why we are fighting a war in Afghanistan?
I honestly have no idea why we are there.
That’s a fairly clear indication that something is rotten, isn’t it? That I have to ask the question, why are we there?
Like the answer isn’t blindingly obvious to all.
I’m positive that I am not alone in this respect.
Surely, when a nation’s military might is committed to fighting a war, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that it is the right thing to do and the reasons for doing so should be clear, just and free from doubt.
Sadly, however, this has never really been the case with countless wars fought throughout the ages in the name of “king and country”.
In my mind, The Great War of 1914-18 could have been avoided over tea and cake.
A pot of Earl Grey, a sumptuous lemon drizzle and some thorough rumination could have chilled out all parties concerned before a single shot was fired.
Its successor, on the other hand, was a war that absolutely had to be fought to ensure peace and liberty throughout the world.
There was no escaping the reality of World War 2.
That conflict didn’t need its own PR campaign to convince the country there was a clear and present danger from abroad.
But the reasons for our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan are certainly far from clear.
I’m reminded of Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, who went before the United Nations Security Council to sell the Iraq War using flip charts with the latest “intelligence”, showing desert-proofed ice-cream trucks armed with rocket launchers instead of Zooms.
He was said to have passed off a student’s college essay on espionage in the Persian Gulf as fresh, raw data from the CIA. Every day I watch the news to discover more British soldiers are dead, and for what purpose?
What immediate threat to our liberty and people does this middle eastern state pose?
A state that has for more than 100 years been occupied by a foreign power, beginning with us in the days of the Empire and then the Soviets in a constant skirmish with the Moujahidin rebels who we, along with the Americans, supported with arms, money and training?
Who are the Taliban? Who is the leader there?
I see no great commander calling the shots.
There are no great armies facing each other, no infantry waiting to hear the bugle sound.
There are no trenches dug into the earth, armoured tank divisions squaring off against each other and no war on wings waged in the skies above.
The nature of this beast is something quite different, where the battlefield is all around you, with no clear lines to defend or attack, with civilians constantly in the line of fire and potentially everyone is an enemy combatant.
Our brave forces are being killed every day and I find it alarming that no one can offer me a clear cut reason as to why they are there.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of all our brave troops who have recently fallen in combat.