Has The Mission Been Achieved In Aghanistan?

[LazyGun]

Seems a rather bold and perhaps a tad premature statement by Cameron, don't you think?

Rather reminds me of George Bush on the Aircraft carrier Abe Lincoln back in 2003 when he declared to the watching world "Mission Accomplished", along with a thumbs up, which proved to be a tad inaccurate...

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/16/afghanistan-mission-accomplished-david-cameron

[emmie]

it hasn't and he shouldn't say it has. Its been a failure if anything, we will leave and things will go back to the Tribal leaders and the Taliban ruling the roost,

[sandyRoe]

Are the Taliban now nothing more than a dark page in the history books, can young women pursue an education?
I confess, I never noticed those changes happening. But if Cameron says so then it must be true.

[Bazile]

I think it rather depends on what the mission was -I have to confess , i dont know what was the mission .

[LazyGun]

Well, according to the reports, Mr.Cameron defined the mission as this;
"You have to remember that Afghanistan is an extremely poor country with a very, very troubled history but I think the purpose of our mission was always to build an Afghanistan and Afghan security forces that were capable of maintaining a basic level of security so this country never again became a haven for terrorist training camps. That has been the most important part of the mission … The absolute driving part of the mission is the basic level of security so that it doesn't become a haven for terror.

"That is the mission, that was the mission and I think we will have accomplished that mission and so our troops can be very proud of what they have done."

But given the instances of blue on green attacks, given other reports of unreadiness of the Afghanistan army, and given the poor governance of Afghanistan, claiming that Afghanistan will never again become a haven for terrorist training camps seems slightly over-confident to me. I can see he might be very keen to acknowledge the work done by the British forces serving there, and to boost morale at Christmas and all that, but it still seems the kind of statement that can come around and bite you in the ass

[emmie]

sandy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/10472518/Afghanistan-plans-to-reintroduce-public-stoning-as-punishment-for-adultery.html

[emmie]

and it will come round to bite him in the arse, he was a fool to come out with the statement.

[jno]

the mission was to clear out al Qaeda and the Taliban. It's sort of succeeded... at the moment. I dont see it lasting.

[sandyRoe]

I don't imagine many men will be at risk of stoning for adultery.
Cameron was caught between a rock and a hard place when asked about the success of the mission. He could hardly say it had been an abysmal failure with much blood spilt and a fortune spent.

[emmie]

seeing is believing.

[emmie]

perhaps not, but to be so upbeat seems daft.

[jno]

you can't expect him to come over all gloom and doom when he's visiting the military. "Sorry boys, it's all been a big flop, sorry about all the mutilation and death, I don't know what we were thinking."

[EcclesCake]

Being upbeat = bolstering the morale of soldiers in the field.

For the PM to go out there and say 'you are doing a good job guys but ultimately it is a pointless and futile exercise' would not be a constructive use of his visit.

By and large the guys and girls on the ground have seen a difference through their tours and believe in what they are doing. Well, the ones I deal with anyway.

[jake-the-peg]

That rather presupposed we all know what the mission was don't you think!

If it was to clear Al-Qaeda out then it was accomplished years ago

If it was to stabalise Afghanistan or to elliminate the Taliban then you'd have to be a complete fantisist to agree.

I wonder if anybody outside the Tory would agree

The big question is how long after Western forces leave will it take for the country to collapse into a civil war

Personally, and I hate to say it because it's so depressing, but I'd guess less than a week

[emmie]

i wasn't suggesting he should fly out to Afghanistan and tell them its all been a waste, their comrades died for nothing. That would be disheartening, and wrong, however to tell the country it's been a big success seems wrong. It will go back to its tribal ways, my link about the reintroduction of public stoning says it all, i hope i am wrong, because who wants to see women go on suffering in this way..

[Bazile]

//The absolute driving part of the mission is the basic level of security so that it doesn't become a haven for terror. //

Well , if that was the mission statement , then it was a flawed mission right from the outset - because a basic level of security is not going to stop Afganistan becoming a haven for terror .

[emmie]

no it won't, and quite frankly it was not the right time to say it.

[Gromit]

The afghanistan mission was never winnable, so we should not be surprised that it has ended in failure. Al qaeda and the Taleban are still there.

Apologises for a slight hijack of the thread LazyGun. Bazile, have you seen this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrG4JnrN5GA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[emmie]

they never went away, just biding their time until all the soldiers go.

[whiskeryron]

//
sandyRoe
I don't imagine many men will be at risk of stoning for adultery.
Cameron was caught between a rock and a hard place when asked about the success of the mission. He could hardly say it had been an abysmal failure with much blood spilt and a fortune spent. //

Look guys our glorious Prime Minister has stated a fact therefore it must be true. Do any of you have the temerity to suggest that Bill & Ben of number ten are telling us & the world a pack of lies ?

WR.

[emmie]

or flib and flob from the Labour party, who don't seem to have a clue either.