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View Full Version : Afghanistan: Impact of mission on UK forces' reputation



Scott
10-08-2011, 11:00 AM
British forces became involved in Afghanistan soon after the 9/11 terror attacks in the US in 2001. Few expected it to last this long.

The Armed Forces' reputation has paradoxically both suffered and been enhanced by its decade of experience in Afghanistan.

British special forces have more than proved their worth, and British personnel their bravery and willingness to fight, sometimes against overwhelming odds.

But their limits have also been made clear, not least in the size of force the UK has been able to deploy and sustain, or the strains on the RAF's airbridge - the supply route from the UK to Afghanistan - and its ageing transport fleet, or the lack of enough of the right armoured vehicles or transport helicopters in earlier years.

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The Armed Forces' profile and popularity with much of the public have rarely been higher

Tragedies such as the crash of Nimrod XV230, which killed all those on board, focused attention on years of cost-pressures and a culture of "making do". Questions have also been asked over politicians' and some of the senior military leadership's priorities and decisions.

Some commentators have asked whether senior officers and officials should have spoken hard truths unto power at an earlier stage, while others condemn the fitting of a force size to financial limits set down by the Treasury, and a disconnectedness in Whitehall which in turn played out on the ground, despite frequent references to the "comprehensive approach" in Helmand between the military and civilians from the Foreign Office and Department for International Development (DfID).

Rarely has a nation at peace with its neighbours had such battle-hardened young troops, some now returning to Helmand for a third, fourth or fifth tour of duty.

Yet the strains on their families and children back at home have been immense, with some service personnel happy to leave the forces in the current round of redundancies after multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.


Read the Full Article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15212871