Saturday, July 11, 2009 10:35 AM
Afghanistan blues
Norman Spector
On Thursday, the newly-appointed U.S. commander, General Stanley McChrystal, predicted in the Times of London that more British troops would lose their lives as a result of NATO's new strategy of ensuring that Afghani civilian casualties are kept to a minimum.
And, as if on cue, today's British papers are dominated by the deaths of an additional eight of their soldiers in the past 24 hours, bringing the total in the last ten days to 15.
More British soldiers have now died in Afghanistan than lost their lives in Iraq. And the fact that most of these deaths have been caused by IED's and other roadside bombs (the same applies to Canadian troops) has set off a fierce debate in Britain as to whether their troops have been properly equipped, and whether the war is winnable.
The huge increase in British deaths in the past fortnight is due to their participation in a massive U.S. onslaught on Helmand province in advance of the Afghanistan elections. It's unclear right now whether the Americans have sufficient forces to extend their campaign to neighbouring Kandahar province; today's Washington Post reports that Gen. McChrystal will be be asking President Obama to send additional American troops, and additional funds to train Afghan soldiers and police. If the U.S. Marines do extend their campaign to Kandahar, and if Canadian troops are asked to join in, we should brace ourselves for heavy losses in the coming months.
