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I have regurgitated this old thread because it dealth with a situation in Afghanistan that clearly hasnt improved in the intervening period. Today on R4 an American general of note, General McKernan, has stated that in southern Afghanistan the coalition forces are clearly "not winning". The notorious Helmond province is of course in Southern Afghanistan so you can see which direction his complaints are aimed...squarely at the British forces.
To be fair to the British forces..its a huge area and there simply isnt enough of them, but fear not...the Americans are on their way. As I understand it they are putting another 17,000 troops alongside the British forces in the Helmond region to bolster up the position.
But not before time as the Taliban are not hurting. They thrive, more recruits, more money from the continued growth in poppy production, any amount of weaponry, life's never been better. These Afghan guys are used to fighting. They fight everyone, Russians, Brits, Yanks they dont care...its part of their culture like fish n chips is to us.
Its a great pity we had to go into Afghanistan at all. Now that Iraq is nearly over..a complete pull out from the region would have been preferable in my book anyway.