Comments on: Support the Troops, Prime Minister Brown!

By: Peter Montbriand

Peter Montbriand — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:59:30 +0000

Michael Yon, who has embedded with british forces in Sangin, has written about the Brits using Russian contractor helicoptors. The problems in Afghanistan are more about getting the US army off it’s butt. Risk aversion and force protection seem to be a mindset that came into force in the 90′s(according to Robert Shultz) and has carried over to things in much of Afghanistan. From my readings(Michael Yon, Robert Kaplan, Free Range International, Aghanistanshrugged, and anything else I can find) Afghanistan is several years behind, in terms of ANP and ANA numbers, than Iraq was at the time of the surge.
God bless the British soldiers and keep them safe.

By: Robert V

Robert V — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:09:31 +0000

Wow, with all those problems, it sounds like Rumsfield is running things over there.

By: logdon

logdon — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:18:37 +0000

We have Pakistanis openly avowing hate. We have known ME supporters of terror spouting bile at meetings. We give them houses, benefits and protection of the law denied to the white British.
Send that lot of ingrates back, severely limit immigration from Pakistan and get out of Afghanistan.

So easy yet so beyond our pc obsessed gov.

By: eon

eon — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:39:24 +0000

I agree “Crash” Gordon understands why Allied forces are in Afghanistan. I disagree that he approves.

After all, Brown is an old-school Labourite of the type that, thirty years ago, was all in favor of waving the white flag and just giving NATO to the Soviets, in the name of “international socialist brotherhood”. Of course, like his cronies (notably “Red Ken” Livingston), he probably was calculating that he would be one of those running the local area for their new masters in Moscow; after all, they’d need him, wouldn’t they?

In the present context, Brown seems to still believe that this is a war the U.S. started, and that the UK got dragged into. And one he is certain he could have avoided by (a) finding out what the other side wanted first and (b) giving it to them.

(What’s that you say? They want Israel gone, and the West to submit? He’s sure something can be worked out.)

Since he regards himself as “stuck” fighting a war that he personally disapproves of, both in terms of objectives and expenses, it’s not too surprising that Brown chooses to fall back on the standard “progressive” gambits in such situations; namely, to try to get out of the situation by any means necessary, while blaming everyone else for his failures. (After all, he’s just SO much smarter than “everyone else”- in his own opinion.)

In Brown’s behavior today, I suspect both Britons and Americans are seeing the behavior of the Obama administration tomorrow. Since Brown is apparently going to “go first”, there is no reason for the rest to be shy about following the same route.

As for where that route will eventually end, they’ll worry about that tomorrow.

clear ether

eon