Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general

[MrPrax]

Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general

The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption.

...

The assumption within Nato countries had been that the environment in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban in 2002 would be benign, Gen Richards said. "That is clearly not the case," he said yesterday. He referred to disputes between tribes crossing the border with Pakistan, and divisions between religious and secular factions cynically manipulated by "anarcho-warlords".

Corrupt local officials were fuelling the problem and Nato's provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were sending out conflicting signals, Gen Richards told a conference at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "The situation is close to anarchy," he said, referring in particular to what he called "the lack of unity between different agencies".

He described "poorly regulated private security companies" as unethical and "all too ready to discharge firearms". Nato forces in Afghanistan were short of equipment, notably aircraft, but also of medical evacuation systems and life-saving equipment.

Guardian

But...but...our Press is telling us everything is hunky dory.

'A Canadian success story within a tragedy'

Globe War Correspondent CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD

Kandahar, Afghanistan — Just hours after two Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others wounded military convoys were once again rolling in and out of the giant dust bowl that is the Kandahar Air Field base.
...
(Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Hope) said he had difficulty reconciling the notion of describing the weeks-long push as successful until it came to him last night that Cpls. Gomez and Warren "would want us, would want me, to talk about this operation for the sake of their comrades and to put into context what they were doing," and that he was confident "that's the context in which they would like their sacrifice to be remembered. I have no doubt."

He said he hoped "that consoles their families to some extent."

But the deaths "will not threaten our resolve," he said. "We remain strong and our soldiers are back on operations today."

Lt.-Col. Hope said that "for the first time I am aware of in Canadian history," soldiers were able to maintain a 230-kilometre-long supply line for five days and singled out for praise a cadre of "extremely hard-working and heroic maintainers, suppliers and transport soldiers," who made sure "we never wanted for supplies."

Dominion and Empire

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

[Spazito]

1. Oh man, it is the US military's doublespeak being regurgitated by

our commanders. How reassuring.

[daleo]

2. It is re-framing the mission, and it isn't working

"Lt.-Col. Hope said that "for the first time I am aware of in Canadian history," soldiers were able to maintain a 230-kilometre-long supply line for five days and singled out for praise a cadre of "extremely hard-working and heroic maintainers, suppliers and transport soldiers," who made sure "we never wanted for supplies.""

That's a nice goal for a training exercise, but people don't want their relatives sent home in coffins for that.