If the United States is going to achieve a surge-style victory in Afghanistan, it cannot depend on what was once its most reliable ally for help. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and many U.S. commanders on the ground have expressed doubts that Britain has the political will to fight.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s move to withdraw British troops from southern Iraq and his demonstrated lack of will to deploy extra troops to Afghanistan in the numbers required by NATO commander Gen. John Craddock has the Americans believing that the PM has given in to a strong anti-war sentiment among Britons. Craddock specifically needs more British troops in the Afghan province of Helmland, where the Taliban are mounting a strong insurgency. Instead of the 3,000 additional British troops that were planned for, Brown so far has only committed to send 300.
Gen. Craddock told the Sunday Times:
“I don’t think 300 more, if you are talking about Helmand province, will do the trick. We’ve got to hold down there until we’ve got some Afghan street forces who can take over,” Craddock said.
The last time the U.S. put its trust in the British to secure a province was in Iraq, and the results there were extremely disappointing to the Americans. The primary British mission in Iraq was to keep the peace in the province of Basra.
But according to the Times’ Michael Portillo, Brown’s predecessor Tony Blair deferred to public opinion at home and quickly reduced British troop strength in an effort avoid casualties among their numbers. The result was that British forces lost control of Basra, leaving the local population at the mercy of insurgents and warring militias, including forces under the control of Moqtada al-Sadr.
An additional reason for the British failure, in Portillo’s opinion, was hubris:
In the early days in Iraq we bragged that our forces could deploy in berets and soft-sided vehicles while US forces roared through Baghdad in heavily armoured convoys. British leaders sneered at the Americans’ failure to win hearts and minds because of their lack of experience in counterinsurgency.
Pride has certainly come before a fall. British commanders underestimated both the enemy’s effectiveness and the Americans’ ability to adapt.
The difference, says Portillo was at the very top of the U.S. and British chains of command:
If a fair-minded account of the Iraq war is written, credit should go to President Bush for rejecting two years ago the report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that called for force reductions. He defied conventional wisdom and ordered a troop surge instead. It has been an extraordinary success and, unlike Britain, the Americans will not withdraw in defeat. During debates in Washington, British forces’ ignominious withdrawal to barracks was cited to argue that the United States could not contemplate being humbled in a similar way. In the end Bush was not a quitter. Blair “cut and ran”.
The final humility for Britain in Iraq was that Iraqi forces, with American support, routed al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and chased them out of Basra. A justifiably proud Iraqi General Mohammed Jawad Humeidi boasted that his troops fought valiantly for a week before getting any help from the British. Gen. Humeidi added insult to injury with his observation that for five years the al-Sadr’s forces had “ruled Basra without being punished or held to account.”
In Portillo’s opinion, the unpopularity of the war in Britain is no excuse:
Our mission was to provide security for the Iraqi people, and in that the US and Maliki’s government have recently had marked success and we have failed. The fault does not lie with our fighters. They have been extremely brave and as effective as their orders and their equipment would allow.
It raises questions about the stamina of our nation and the resolve of our political class. It is an uncomfortable conclusion that Britain, with nuclear weapons, cruise missiles, aircraft carriers and the latest generation of fighter-bombers, is incapable of securing a medium-size conurbation. Making Basra safe was an essential part of the overall strategy; having committed ourselves to our allies we let them down.
Indeed, George Bush has paid the price of his resolve with low approval ratings and a media which not only criticizes him, but mocks him as well. But Bush, unlike Blair and Brown, has at least the spark of the spirit of Sir Winston Churchill in him. A distant blood relative of the great statesman who led Britain to victory in World War II, Bush inherited Churchill’s bulldog determination to prevail. In a return to his old school Harrow in 1941, Churchill said in a speech:
“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
The lesson was not lost on Bush, who observed upon receiving (ironically as a gift from Blair) a bust of Churchill, “He is a constant reminder of what a great leader is like.”
Hated by the left for the war in Iraq and criticized by the right for his failure to reign in federal spending and the size of government, George W. Bush never faltered in his pursuit of victory in Iraq and the right of self-determination for its people.
And now, with Bush’s days in the White House winding down, America’s commanders in Afghanistan are surely wondering what sort of commitment they will have to work with from their incoming commander in chief. And with the need for more international troops to protect the local population while the Afghan army has a chance to be expanded and trained, as was the Army of Iraq, they worry that they may already know the answer to the question, “Do the British have the stomach for Afghanistan?”
Meanwhile, in the parish churchyard in Bladon, Oxfordshire, Sir Winston Churchill must surely be turning slowly in his grave. He died in 1965, but his bulldog spirit had lived on, first in Margaret Thatcher, then, after laying dormant for a while, in George W. Bush. As Sir Winston’s father was British and his mother an American, this is not remarkable. But when the president retires to Texas next month, that spirit must rest again until some other leader with Churchill’s great resolve arises. On which side of the Atlantic Ocean will it again be seen? Given the mood of the British, I believe that it will be reawakened in the home of the brave and the land of the free.
- JP
Neil Stevens
Steve Maley
Daniel Horowitz
Jake Walker
Only the strong survive
DerKrieger (Diary) Sunday, December 21st at 11:55AM EST (link)Rarely these days do I read a positive story regarding the once Great Britain. From their embarrassment by the Iranians to their poor performance in Afghanistan to their lack of resistance to creeping sharia the British are lost. If they can’t find the spirit of the thousands of great men of their history and reclaim it, they will be the first Islamic Republic in Europe. They are simply too cowardly to fight back against the forces of political correctness, neo-Marxism, and multiculturalism that is killing, literally, their culture and society.
“In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” – James Madison
Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience.” — John Locke, 1690
The English Sickness
Bobcat51 Sunday, December 21st at 1:09PM EST (link)It’s not the British troops; it’s the failed political leadership; 10+ years of neo Marxism in UK Politics.
The country under New Labour has become a police state where every NOISY minority gets its way while the silent majority (Sheeple) sits and cowers. The spirit of the English has been depressed under a give away government who has now arrived at reality; the UK is bankrupt not only financially but politically.
Like a cancer the Islamic movement is spreading like wildfire and the Brits just sit like Deer caught in the headlights of a Kenworth truck. The Church of England has its enablers and Political Correctness rules every decision.
If one wants to look through a window of the USA after 8 years of Obama just look at the UK. Regulated to paralysis, the indigenous race are strangers in their own country with the British culture being diluted at every turn?
Possibly, the late Ted Heath’s intentions were honorable but taking the UK into the then Common Market has proved a disaster for the UK. Recently the government of the UK has decided to mothball 50% of the Royal Navy Fleet; Why not mothball 50% of the socialist government?
America is the last bastion of freedom and liberty but this luxury hangs by a thread; some how I do not think/hope the American people will allow this to happen. The founding Fathers gave us the Constitution; it must be defended in its original form at all costs from Liberal/Marxist interference, if not, we will cease to be the Land of the Free.
The left wing intent is to destroy the existing society and replace it with a society of its own design.
Excellent piece.
septembergurl (Diary) Sunday, December 21st at 7:11PM EST (link)So much of what has been written and posited about the war in Iraq is so wrong and serves only the defeatists and our enemies.
It’s a sad day when the Iraqi army outperforms the British army, but this has been the case in Iraq. The British did a terrible job in Basra and I was actually relieved when they started pulling out. It was the fault of their political and military leaders of course — not the individual soldiers. The ROE for the Brits limited their effectiveness.
We have been told that Bush’s big sin was insisting on going it alone, rejecting allies and so on. The reality is that most of our “allies” have been worse than useless — exceptions being Canadians and Australians, as well as some of the smaller countries’ forces. Obama is being told now what he would have known two years ago had he paid attention to his subcommittee in the Senate — NATO is not doing the job in Afghanistan. Now we’re going to put in 30,000 more of our own forces — and that is not anywhere near the number we will need to win there.
We were told endlessly and adnauseum that once Bush was gone, governments around the world would be vying for the opportunity to help Obama out. Gordon Brown did not get that memo apparently.
Give 'em a break
JustLeaveMeAlone (Diary) Sunday, December 21st at 7:57PM EST (link)The Brits have their own issues with Muslim extremists, many of who live within their borders. Been to London lately? Been north of Westminster? It’s downright scary, especially traveling as a woman alone!
When Winnie gave his famous “We Shall Never Surrender” speech, the USA wasn’t helping him. So let’s let the Brits tackle their own issues, and let’s tackle ours.
For my part, I forgive their “lack of loyalty” and hope the feeling is mutual.. Tony Blair had problems we have not yet seen here, and God willing, we never shall. As for Afghanistan, et al, let’s do what we have to do on our own. We don’t need anyone’s permission or help — that’s the best way.
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson
Commonwealth retreat
digitaldean Sunday, December 21st at 10:25PM EST (link)The Canadian parliament is getting queasy about their work in Afghanistan. They even declared that 2011 as the date they will be out no matter what the situation. Harper has to walk a fine line with the coalition issues now since Parliament has been prorogued.
Australia’s retreat was expected after Howard was knocked out of power.
Britain was stalwart, but not for as long as would’ve been needed.
Don’t even get me started about our other NATO allies. Those Quislings are even more embarrasing.
Kudos to Josh and DerKrieger, Bobcat51, SeptemberGurl & JustLeaveMeAlone...........
Kenny Solomon (Diary) Sunday, December 21st at 10:28PM EST (link)It should come as no surprise to anyone that The UK is pulling out of armed conflict with their about-to-be masters.
England shall soon be renamed as The United Kingdom Of Islam, with most of Europe and Scandinavia to follow in short order.
You want to stop evil? You don’t invite it into your home for tea. You fight it with overwhelming force until the last vestige of that evil is no more than a distant memory.
I pray daily that our own countrymen wake up and put a stop to the insanity being foisted on our home. But there seems to be a disconnect here in the USA that may become worse than what is already happening overseas.
We’ve elected to office and elevated people who somehow think that all they need to do is talk things over and play nice with evil and just because they are who they are, their ‘hope’ for peace will ‘change’ everything and everyone towards one big group hug, causing no more worries for the world.
One of their
Warner Todd Huston (Diary) Sunday, December 21st at 11:26PM EST (link)A few days ago I saw an op ed in The Telegraph from one of the Brti’s generals and he was puffing himself up and saying they should “be proud” of the work they did in Iraq and that they were leaving with their heads held high. This is absolute garbage. The British army should be thoroughly ashamed of itself for its actions in Iraq.
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Get over it
FerGeo Monday, December 22nd at 8:02PM EST (link)Reject mysticism. When you die, you die. Conservatism will be taken more seriously when we reject fairy tails. Your legacy is not eternal life, or “rapture”, but the values you pass on to your children. Liberal values are about how you appear at cocktail parties and pot lucks. We can win this war if we stop embracing looney concepts. It is critical NOW that we get real. The socialist are taking control, to a large part because conservatism is associated with stupid concepts like “god” and “eternal life”. Grow up. Our future depends on it. Do you want the bureucrats to make all of your daily decisions? Not me,
Comparison of Churchill to Bush
charliehall Tuesday, December 23rd at 9:51AM EST (link)Churchill was the Prime Minister of a Coalition Government. He made no attempt to push any kind of domestic agenda whatsoever. His Naval and Air ministers and almost half his cabinet were from the Labour and Liberal parties. (At about the same time, Franklin Roosevelt appointed Republicans to head the War and Navy Departments.) Clement Attlee was just as outspoken as Churchill in opposing the Nazis.
Was the Global War on Terror as important? The only Democrat in Bush’s cabinet is the Transportation Secretary, which has no security role since the Department of Homeland Security was created. Bush continued to aggressively push a conservative domestic policy, spending political capital that he could have used to unite the country against terrorism. The result was that he tried to fight a war with something like 40% of the country bitterly against him, and through a guns-and-butter policy most reminiscent of another failed President, Lyndon Johnson. Churchill would never have tried to marginalize Clement Attlee during wartime. And ironically, in his last days in office, Bush is frantically throwing all free market principles to the wind in an attempt to head off economic disaster.
Charlie Hall