Afghanistan

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/3xcxy2z

Is what is happening in Pakistan, making it more difficult for any advancement in the Afghanistan situation?

And since the total number of British dead is fast approaching 300, should the Afghanistan troops now be trained enough for them to take over the more dangerous activities (such as bomb disposal) from our troops?

[Gromit]

It seems, as has long been suspected, that the Pakistan secret service is undermining efforts in Afghanistan.

The United States gives $5.4billion to Pakistan in Aid, 70% of which is misappropriated.

http://www.guardian.c...8/feb/27/pakistan.usa

I wonder what would happen if the $5.4billion was spent in Afghanistan instead? Buy off the Poppy farmers and have money to spare. That might even increase the street price of heroin over here and put it out of reach of the average 12 year old's pocket money.

And yes, equip the Afghan army take a bigger role.

[youngmafbog]

I doubt it will have much effect, I am sure intelligence forces knew this well before it got near any review group or the press and so planning will have already taken it into account.
As for Afghan troops, I would be surprised if they were not already being trained in bomb disposal.
I like the idea Gromit. Anything to remove the scourge of hard drugs from our street would be very welcome and money well spent. Doubt it will happen though.

[rov1200]

We went to war in Afghanistan to remove the training camps. What has not hit home to the military planners is that its not the camps but the people that run them. Like you say they have moved on to Pakistan, Yemen or even Somalia. They can infiltrate into the UK as law abiding citizens until they plan their next move.

They are already inside the fortress called Britain.

How many Afghan troops are needed to protect themselves. It is nearly 300,000 and rising.

[OrcadianOil]

1. This "revelation" is nothing new, is it?
2. "be trained enough" ? What does that mean? How long is a piece of string???

[123everton]

If it's to work then we're going to have to be there for some time yet.
The Afghan army can be trained to perfection, they can be equipped to a tee, without an idea or an ideal to defend then they won't fight.
We need to create a vision of what Afghanistan will look like in the future and it has to be more appealing than anything the Taliban offers.
A start would be getting rid of graft at road junctions, if traders and drivers can move freely without impediment or unjustified taxation then they'll support the initiatives.