The withdrawal of the public conscience.

The relationship between NATO and Afghanistan hit rock bottom yesterday with the news that a lone US serviceman had killed 16 villagers, 11 of them children. After a difficult few months, where Afghan anger reached a peak after the burning of Korans by US soldiers, this tragedy is another blow to the fragile situation. The agreement to gradually hand over the Parwan detention facility to Afghan control is a positive step, but the plans that are reportedly in the works to end the "lead combat role" in the country show a worrying policy of desertion being increasingly favoured by NATO. After Nicolas Sarkozy's insistance that French soldiers would be withdrawn if the security situation did not improve, and rising numbers of comment articles advocating the withdrawal of NATO troops, it seems as if we are already beginning think about the War in Afghanistan in the perfect tense. As the country reaches its most difficult hour, when foreign troops leave a poorly trained national army to keep the peace in a deeply divided and fragmented country, it would be criminal of the global community to erase the Afghan people from our collective consciousness and neglect our obligation to help once we have left in a military capacity. It is of vital importance to keep the Afghan people in our thoughts and not excuse our conduct of the last decade as part of an ill-fated jaunt in South Asia. The citizens of Afghanistan have been abused for decades. Lest we forget that we have been intimately involved.