Quotes by Mark Curtis

Soon after the British deployment to Helmand, in summer 2006, there was a major escalation in the conflict. The following year witnessed a further deterioration in the security situation, and by 2008 nearly half the country was effectively a no-go area for the international aid community.

One academic paper by two members of the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, notes that ISAF’s military operations since 2001 have “pushed” anti-government elements “towards active insurgency”. During the four years of 2001-05, evidence suggests that the Afghan population largely supported the government. In 2006-07 public opinion began to shift in favour of anti-government elements in unstable areas, and by late 2008 the population was voluntarily providing support to anti-government forces...

A confidential August 2009 report by US General Stanley McChrystal, at that time the overall military commander in Afghanistan, stated that “the overall situation is deteriorating” and that NATO faced a “resilient and growing insurgency”.

The Taliban now has ‘shadow governors’ in 33 out of 34 Afghan provinces, and a permanent presence in 80% of the country. The NGO Safety Office, which advises organisations working in Afghanistan, describes the Taliban as “a movement anticipating authority and one which has already obtained a complex momentum that NATO will be incapable of reversing”

General Dannatt said in May 2009 that Britain’s “military reputation and credibility, unfairly or not, have been called into question at several levels in the eyes of our most important ally as a result of some aspects of the Iraq campaign”. Therefore, Dannatt continued, “Taking steps to restore this credibility will be pivotal – and Afghanistan provides an opportunity”.

A confidential August 2009 report by US General Stanley McChrystal, at that time the overall military commander in Afghanistan, stated that “the overall situation is deteriorating” and that NATO faced a “resilient and growing insurgency”

British interests in the region are closely aligned with those of the USA:
“The entire region in which Afghanistan sits is of vital strategic importance to the United Kingdom,” stated the then Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth in July 2009.

UK Defence Minister Liam Fox MP has stated that a withdrawal of troops would “damage the credibility of NATO” and “would be a shot in the arm to violent jihadists everywhere, re-energising violent radical and extreme Islamism”.

General Dannatt said in May 2009 that Britain’s “military reputation and credibility, unfairly or not, have been called into question at several levels in the eyes of our most important ally as a result of some aspects of the Iraq campaign”. Therefore, Dannatt continued, “Taking steps to restore this credibility will be pivotal – and Afghanistan provides an opportunity”.

US Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Boucher, confirmed in 2007 that “one of our goals is to stabilise Afghanistan... so that energy can flow to the south”.