British officer resigns over 'grotesquely clumsy' war in Afghanistan: pape

[maddezmom]

LONDON (AFP) - An officer has resigned from the British army in protest at its "grotesquely clumsy" campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Sunday Times reports.

Captain Leo Docherty was aide-de-camp to Colonel Charlie Knaggs, a senior commander in the British task force in southern Afghanistan, but quit last month after becoming disillusioned with its strategy in Helmand province, The Sunday Times said.

The approach is "a textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency," Docherty was quoted as saying.

"All those people whose homes have been destroyed and sons killed are going to turn against the British," he said.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060910/wl_uk_afp/britainm...

Top soldier quits as blundering campaign turns into 'pointless' war
Christina Lamb

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2350795,00...

[izzie]

1. Gee I did not think 'those' people got mad when we killed their children.

I thought they were all mad because I could do things like vote.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Actually, it's the republicons who hate us for our freedoms

The taliboobies hate hate us for bombing their weddings and stealing their oil profits to enrich fat cat BushCo republicon corrupt cronies.

[izzie]

5. Just once it would be nice if people looked at this

What their country was dong in their name to others when we have no business doing it. If the shoe was on the other foot they would be hiding behind pine trees waiting to kill them all but they never seem to see that. Where do we get the feeling we have the right to tell people how they can live and what govt. they need? Every time we do this it is blow back time.

[dipsydoodle]

2. I'm wondering if

the guy had served in Northern Ireland and so could draw comparisons.

[bread_and_roses]

4. "We've said we'll be different than the Americans...

...who were bombing and strafing villages"....

Another day, another news story, another reason to be ashamed.

[leftchick]

6. Officer resigns over 'grotesquely clumsy' war in Afghanistan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060910/wl_uk_afp/britainm...

<snip>

Captain Leo Docherty was aide-de-camp to Colonel Charlie Knaggs, a senior commander in the task force in southern Afghanistan, but quit last month after becoming disillusioned with its strategy in Helmand province, The Sunday Times said.

The approach is "a textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency," Docherty was quoted as saying.

"All those people whose homes have been destroyed and sons killed are going to turn against the British," he said.

"Weve been grotesquely clumsy. We've said well be different to the Americans who were bombing and strafing villages, then behaved exactly like them," he said.

"Weve deviated spectacularly from the original plan," Docherty was quoted as saying.

"The plan was to secure the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, initiate development projects and enable governance ... During this time, the insecure northern part of Helmand would be contained: troops would not be sucked in to a problem unsolvable by military means alone."

[whistle]

7. Donald Rumsfeld warned the military that there were no good

...targets in Afghanistan! We need to boot these bastards in BushCo right out of power and into complete isolation.

[BootinUp]

8. But Crashcart Cheney said not to worry.

That we have made tremendous progress in Afghansitan and there was no chance the new government would fail in the future.

[Laughing Mirror]

9. "Afghanistan has become more dangerous than Iraq for Western troops.."

Yes but 96% more poppies are in bloom, so was it all worth it inquiring minds want to know?