Wednesday 17 December 2014

Surrender rather than Retreat


Channel 4 released an interesting documentary on the dismantlement of the largest British military camp since World War II – “The Billion-Pound Base: Dismantling Camp Bastion”. It illustrates not only the obscene sums of money spent on the British mission in Afghanistan, but also the absurdity of the handover of responsibility to the Afghans. In an attempt to avoid the unintentional equipping of the Taliban and other militias with vital weapons, construction workers responsible for the dismantlement of Camp Bastion received the order to destroy everything of value. The distrust and fear remaining after the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan shows that it is not a sign of victory but rather one of surrender.