Britain: Afghan war unwinnable

The head of the British Armed Forces has conceded that it is not possible to defeat al-Qaeda in Afghanistan militarily.

General Sir David Richards also admitted that the people of Afghanistan are increasingly feeling frustrated over the UK and NATO’s incapability to implement their commitments after occupying the country nine years after the US-led invasion in 2001.

General Richards told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that the UK need to provide security for its citizens through containing Al-Qaeda instead of trying to defeat Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan militarily.

British politicians and military commanders used to stipulate the necessity to crush al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, but they are now forced to admit ‘this bitter fact’ because the death toll of British troops in the country is rising on a daily basis and the UK is grappling with a record budget deficit in its history.

The UK’s most senior military official refers to “this bitter fact” as follows: “There comes a time in every conflict when it is appropriate to negotiate with the enemies. I don’t think we should be worried about it. Such talks would also be part of the problem”.

If the al-Qaeda and Taliban have been unbeatable, Sir Davis has to answer the question “why Britain and its NATO allies did come to the conclusion so far so late after almost 10 years of war and destruction that brought Afghans death and displacement and resulted in the death of hundreds of occupation troops and billions of pounds in losses”.

The UK Army chief repeatedly uses words such as “Islamism” or “Islamic militancy” in spite of the fact that he is well aware that al-Qaeda and Taliban have been taught with the extremist wahhabi schools of thought.

Wahhabism, itself, has its roots in Saudi Arabia which is the UK’s closest ally in the Middle East region.

Meanwhile, Most Saudi princes are also among financial supporters of those extremists according to reports provided by the UK intelligence organizations.

Analysts also believe that there is a serious confusion among British officials over how to exit the quagmire in Afghanistan, because an obvious controversy could be seen in General Richards’ remarks and Prime Minister Cameron’s recent statement about an imminent pullout from the country which was dismissed shortly after.

And the question remains, how is it possible to defeat an enemy whose identity is unknown to the British decision-makers and also there is neither a clear-cut strategy nor a serious will among politicians to alienate it.