Admit Afghan failure and stop the coffins.

Byline: Joan Burnie

REMIND me again of why we went off to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. Not, as I recall, that there was supposed to be much fighting.

Goodness no, the then Secretary for Defence, Dr John Reid, was hopeful that nary a bullet would be fired in anger. The very idea.TchTch.

It was just a bit of policing, a walk in the military park, where the boys and girls could pick up a nice sun tan.

No one mentioned that 152 of them would also pick up a shroud and bring their tans back in a coffin.

No one talked about the thousands who would lose their limbs, health and sanity fighting an unwinnable war against an enemy who embraces fanaticism and death with equal fervour.

In among the political platitudes about bringing peace and democracy to a region which has never in its puff had either, wasn't there something about stopping the heroin trade? So the poppy is gone from its fields? Well, not exactly. Production is higher than ever. It's a double whammy. It buys the Taliban's weapons and floods our streets. But fair dos.

They now have elections.

Another one is coming along soon and Gordon Brown has promised his new bestest pal, Barack, that he'll send another 1000 of our soldiers to join the 8000 already there.

Just to make sure everyone gets to the polls on time or something.

At Afghanistan's last election, they voted in a new president and very nice gent, Hamid Karzai.You'll have seen him on the box. Always awfully nattily dressed. Mr Karzai, who wants to be re-elected, recently agreed to bring in a law which would legalise rape within marriage and not allow a woman to set foot over her doorstep without her husband's permission.

Apparently nice Mr Karzai didn't see any problem with it. But didn't we also go into Afghanistan to protect women's rights and to bring them some kind of equality and education? Hillary Clinton and our own Foreign Office assure us that it is a central plank of their mission.

Most of all, I wonder what Cpl Sarah Bryant would have thought of this proposed legislation.

Maybe Gordon's forgotten who Sarah is. Saving the world is hard work.

None of us will ever know what Sarah thought because Sarah was blown to pieces in June last year serving in Afghanistan.

I would not dare say she died in vain. Sarah was brave and good and true. She did her duty.

But did we do our duty by Sarah or any of the people we send to Afghanistan?What have we accomplished during these long, long years? Little, if anything. What will we accomplish in the future by hanging on? Even more Sarahs, more coffins, more grieving families along with more heroin, oppression of women and terrorism.

So what is the point in prolonging the agony? For generations, not just us but other countries have attempted to tame and civilise Afghanistan. They all, including the brutal might of the Russian Army, failed so let the politicians stop pretending we can succeed.

Even the brass no longer think it possible.

So withdraw the troops. Use the money saved to tighten our own borders against those who wish us harm and to fight the drug war at home.

We too have an election of the horizon, Mr Brown.

CAPTION(S):

COUNT COST: Gordon Brown and Cpl Bryant