Brian Cloughley: Another Lost War: Defeated in Afghanistan

We must demonstrate to the people and to the Taliban that Afghan and International Security Assistance Forces are here to safeguard the Afghan people that we are in this to win. That is our clear objective. General Petraeus, July 4, 2010. "Clearly, the security situation is improving, the number of enemy initiated attacks is decreasing and the vast majority of the Afghan population lives in areas where peace and stability has already been established." Spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Brigadier General Gunter Katz, November 5, 2012. "Nearly half of Afghans think their country is not moving in the right direction, fear for their family for their family's safety, or are frightened to run into a member of their police or army, according to a nationwide poll." Guardian, UK November 14, 2012. Voutenay sur Cure, France. A week after the spokesman for foreign forces in Afghanistan made his ridiculous pronouncement about peace and stability, four rockets were fired into Kabul city, home to one of the world's most corrupt governments. Mercifully, only one person was killed, and there wasn't much damage, but the militants had made the point that they can continue attacks whenever and wherever they want. The amazing hi tech gadgets of all the foreign forces can do a bit to reduce the number and effectiveness of attacks all over the country, but the fact that a few thousand raggy baggy Taliban, or call the insurgents what you will, can even begin to take on such a massive war machine is astonishing. So far this month they have killed twelve US and British soldiers, who, all of them, have died for nothing, and the politicians and generals continue to feed us upbeat garbage about their lost war. Almost everyone has forgotten the Davis Report of January this year, in which one of the few honorable professional military commentators on the Afghanistan shambles made it clear that "Senior ranking US military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the US Congress and the American people in regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan, that the truth has become unrecognizable. This deception has damaged America's credibility among both our allies and enemies, severely limiting our ability to reach a political solution to the war in Afghanistan."