Mea culpa?

At last a chance to confront Parliament with the dreadful consequences of the 2006 decision to deploy 5,000 UK troops in Helmand Province. It was said by Secretary of State John Reid that he hoped the troops would be out in three years without a shot being fire. It was said and it cannot be unsaid.

Other voices compared the Helmand deployment as a 'futile as the Charge of the Light Brigade'. In March 2006, 7 British soldiers had died since 2001. Now it's 171 - far more that the number killed in the Charge of the Light Brigade. The toatl is close the total of 179 kiled in Iraq. I have written to the two main Defence Ministers who were in office in 2006 and invited them to attend and make their contributions.  Will John Reid and Adam Ingram have better things to do on at 2.00pm next Wednesday. The debate will last and an hour and a half so there should be ample time to hear the former ministers' views.

We are repeating the folly of Vietnam. The answer to US mounting casualties there was to pile in more troops. It' was not working, so they did more of the same. In ended in a panic rout.

 One Telegraph scribbler today is calling for more UK troops to be deployed in Helmand.  More troops offer more targets for the Taliban. More US bombing means more deaths of innocent Afghan civilians. The turning point in Vietnam was when the sons of the middle classes were among the fatalities. Today's sad news of the deaths of two brave soldiers has had more attention than any others fatalities.

One of them is a top ranking soldier who is a friend of royalty. But his death is no more  painful to his loved ones that the other 171 deaths. All their families have suffered a wound that will never heal.

Parliament took us into Helmand on a false prospectus. Parliament  is responsible for these deaths.  Will we have a mea culpa or two?

Comments

[Adam]

An aknowledgement that this is far more than what they tried to present it as at the time would be good.

As you have written earlier Paul, since 2006 NATO casualties have been shooting up.

Defeating the 'Taliban' is all that matters according to them. In fact in the Pashtun areas there are great numbers of people who are joining the resistance out of neccessity (poppy eradication being one factor) or out of legitamate grievances.

It will all be painted as some vital measure to drive the Taliban out. The civil and military strategies are failing, and the current indefinate fight against the resistance and the occupation of the Afghan people is counterproductive and has been handled badly.

[Tony]

I've just started reading this book by Paul Krugman and it makes startling reading ..

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conscience-Liberal-Reclaiming-America-Right/dp/0141035773/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246819760&sr=8-2

The contention is that the biggest period of growth in the US was between the end of the depression and the early 70's when the following was in play

1. party concensus on p 'the right system'
2. higher taxes to pay for spending
3. organised labour
4. decline in income inequality

So what do we have in the UK right now ?

1. party consensus on the 'the right system'
2. both parties fighting to avoid raising taxes
3. disorganised labour
4. the biggest increase ever in income inequality in the last 20+ years

Now this guy is a US economics professor and Nobel prize winner and I've looked at some of his sources - and its factual what he describes ..

So maybe one of the parties in the UK might like to consider this ?
Raise taxes to pay for the social state and trim out the stuff that states should leave alone ..

..just a thought ..

[Tony]

..who says economics is dismal ..

[Paul Flynn]

Great thought Tony. Plus a fresh analysis. I'll try to read the book.

[Paul Flynn]

It's a strange experience Adam to hear to hear so many people from Government and opposition who in abject denial of the obvious facts abou the outcome of the Helmand Mission. 'Herrick' will again be praised as a great success on Wednesday.