The saturation media coverage in the UK shifted from Michael Jackson's death to the deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan; it's been all over the front pages and leads the various [BBC] Radio 4 news shows such as Today, World at One, PM, and The World Tonight.
PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown last night paid tribute to four Royal Marines killed in Afghanistan on Friday as he visited their comrades on the front line.
Brown told marines in Camp Bastion, many of them friends of the four dead men: "..."What you are doing here is incredibly difficult. You are in difficult times as a result of the change in tactics by the Taliban.
"But your professionalism is second to none. British forces are recognised as the best in the world."
--Gordon Brown, 20 July 09
Having heard one particular phrase yet again in discussions of the UK armed forces, I used the Google to refresh my memory as to why it seems so familiar... read on to find out the results.
Since their arrival last spring in this lawless region of mountains and desert, British troops have lost 64 men in almost daily combat againsta Taliban force second to none in size and ferocity in the country. The insurgents still control half the province, the most serious threat to Afghanistan's stability.
Yet despite the presence of thousands of Taliban fighters, and some tough fighting still ahead, British military commanders here say they believe they have turned a significant corner. In recent months they have succeeded in pushing the Taliban back and keeping them out of a few strategic areas. At the same time, they say, popular support for the insurgents is eroding.
...The strong British and Afghan security presence in Sangin has for the first time encouraged local Afghans to come forward with information on Taliban movements.
This year, the Taliban have lost ground and men, including some high-level commanders, and are struggling to find recruits among the local population, Carver said.
British commanders said the job now was to consolidate control of Sangin and Gereshk, rather than pursue Taliban in their holdouts.
--NYT, British troops report gains in Afghanistan, 5 Aug 07
Danish soldiers killed by British friendly fire
Two Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan in September died from “friendly fire” involving British troops who mistakenly identified their position as a Taleban compound, an official investigation has concluded.
During a search of the Danish position in upper Gereshk Valley, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, investigators from Denmark found remnants of three Javelin missiles which are used by British infantry units in Afghanistan.
The bodies of the two soldiers, Private Thorbjorn Ole Reese and Private Mikkel Keil Sorensen, were also found to contain fragments of the missiles.
After the announcement yesterday by the Danish Advocate General’s Corps which formally blamed the British for the deaths, Brigadier Andrew Mackay, British Task Force commander in Helmand province, expressed his sympathy to the families and friends of the two soldiers.
Being a former NCO in the Danish Royal Life Guards my heart is bleeding hearing that 5 soldiers from my old regiment is killed in the last 2 months. I don't blame the british but I blame the germans and the french for staying in the calm north of Afghanistan while the danish and the british forces has to take all the pressure in the Helman province.
I'm proud that the danish soldiers are regarded as being "second to none" and nobody is going to let us down, remember Taleban, you are figthing against the wikings...
--Comment by Thor Stendal, Vig, Danmark, 19 Dec 07
The latest deaths are the biggest single loss of life for British forces in Afghanistan since September 2006, when 14 personnel were killed when an RAF Nimrod came down near Kandahar.
In the Commons, the Prime Minister offered his "profound condolences" to the families and friends of the four killed on Tuesday and those who died last week.
Mr Brown said the troops were undertaking "difficult missions in the most dangerous of countries" and said Britain's armed forces were "second to none and the best in the world".
--ITV News, Blast kills four British soldiers, 18 June 08
The professionalism, bravery and intelligence of our armed forces is second to none. Helmand province was effectively ungoverned before they arrived. It remains very dangerous and in some parts lawless.
David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary, 21 Jun 2008
But what I want to say is that your professionalism is second to none. The British forces are recognised as the best in the world and everywhere I go I am able to say what a tremendous job, what professionalism is shown, what dedication is exhibited by our British forces. You also show a huge tradition of service. Often we ask you to go far beyond the call of duty. Your patriotism and support for the causes that our country holds dear is incredibly important. And I wanted to thank you for your courage. Winston Churchill said that courage was the greatest quality of all because it was upon courage that everything else depended, unless you could show courage and bravery then all the good values and all the good words cannot be achieved, and you have been showing a courage that is second to none, a courage that back home in Britain everybody values, a bravery that everybody understands has been necessary in these most difficult times in Afghanistan.
--Gordon Brown, Helmand, 13 Dec 08
The PM later laid a wreath at a memorial at the HQ to the 178 British troops killed in the war.
He hailed the soldiers as "the pride of Britain and the best forces in the world", adding: "Your courage is legendary, your professionalism second to none."
--GB, 17 Dec 08, Basra, Iraq
Transatlantic praise: American soldiers believe the latest weapons and equipment used by their British counterparts on operations is now second-to-none.
--Photo Caption, UK Ministry of Defence, 15 Jan 09
A spokesman for the MoD said any militants treated at the [Afghan] hospital were guarded at all times. “UK Med Group provide the same level of medical care to all casualties at the Camp Bastion field hospital and this level of care is second to none.”
He added: “This does sometimes include local nationals and enemy forces. They are guarded at all times, segregated where possible, and nursed behind screens to afford all patients the necessary level of care, protection and dignity. We provide medical care under the Geneva convention and are subject to inspections from the International Red Cross.”
--UK MOD Spokesman, 23/1/09
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, who broke the consensus among party leaders this week when he criticised the government's strategy in Afghanistan, said: "This tragic milestone must be a reminder to all of us of the huge sacrifices made day after day by our brave service men and women and their families. The courage and professionalism of our armed forces are second to none."
--The Guardian, 10 July 09
Well the cynical among us might wonder why -- with all this peerless military professionalism, bravery, equipment and the rest of it -- are we in this quagmire still?
My advice to Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown, David Milliband and the others would be to stop listening to the spin doctors and their military advisors and to follow people who actually have an understanding of the region. Try Juan Cole:
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Bomb Kills 25 in Afghanistan;
15 British, 2 US Troops killed in past Week;
Blood-Drenched Warlords Return to Gov't with Impunity
I can tell by various web metrics that you guys are not interested in the Afghanistan story. You should be and I am going to parse it today anyway. It is one of the advantages of being non-profit that I write what I want and you can read it or not as you like. But really, you should be following this war.
--Informed Content
Or they might reflect usefully on previous adventures in Afghanistan:
The 44th Foot fought in the First Anglo-Afghan War and the regiment formed the rearguard on the retreat from Kabul. On 13 January 1842, the few survivors of the decimated regiment made a last stand against Afghan tribesmen on a rocky hill near to the village of Gandamak. The force reduced to fewer than forty men by the retreat from Kabul that had come to an end of a running battle through two feet of snow. The ground was frozen and icy. The men had no shelter and little food for weeks. Only a dozen of the men had working muskets, the officers their pistols and a few unbroken swords. When the Afghans surrounded them on the morning of the 13th the Afghans announced that a surrender could be arranged. "Not bloody likely!" was the bellowed answer of one British sergeant. It is believed that only two survived the massacre. Most notable was Captain Thomas Souter, who by wrapping the regimental colours around himself was taken prisoner, being mistaken by the Afghan as a high military official. The other was Surgeon William Brydon who made it as far as the British garrison at Jalalabad after riding his exhausted horse to the limit for days. A vivid, if romanticised, depiction entitled "Last Stand of the 44th Regiment at Gundamuk" was painted by the artist William Barnes Wollen in 1898 which now hangs in the Chelmsford and Essex museum in Oaklands Park, London Road, Chelmsford. This disaster to British arms served to encourage the Indian nationalists who were leaders in the great mutiny in India (1857).
--Wikipedia, 44th Regiment of Foot