UK troops welcomed back as Obama plans Afghan exit
As British soldiers parade past Parliament on the eve of a major US announcement on troop withdrawal, Channel 4 News asks them how they feel about the future of British involvement in Afghanistan.
One hundred and ten paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade are back from a six month tour of Helmand Province. They returned without 22 of their colleagues, who were killed during Operation Herrick.
The government has announced it is to end combat operations in Afghanistan by 2015, but there is still no specific timetable for withdrawal.
This means that many of the returning paratroopers could soon find themselves back in Afghanistan, a prospect one soldier said doesn’t affect the morale of the troops on the ground.
“You’ve got your area. You’re looking after your area. You’re trying to do as much for that area with what you’ve got. And political motivation – everything else – really doesn’t come into it,” Corporal Stuart Anderson told Channel 4 News.
Soldiers like Stuart Anderson will be paying attention to President Barack Obama’s announcement tomorrow, but they say they’ll remain motivated.
President Obama is to announce a substantial “drawdown” of troops from Afghanistan and is expected to make good on his 2009 pledge to start bringing soldiers home by July 2011.
Thirty thousand additional troops were sent to Afghanistan in 2009, and Obama is expected to announce plans for the return of up to 10,000 of those troops by the end of the year.
Staying focused
Corporal Anderson has been trained to survive by staying focused, but many appreciate the difficulty of achieving “victory” in Afghanistan.
Flight Lieutenant Paul Winnister is one such soldier who appreciates the scale of the task, but still believes in what he’s doing.
“A counterinsurgency campaign is never going to be black and white. You’re not going to get a decisive victory,” Lt Winnister said.
“However what can be done is to improve the lot of the Afghans and hopefully we are on our way there,” he continued.
The decade-old conflict is not without sacrifice: it has cost 374 British lives and wounded more than 1700. Major Steven Harmer stoically accepts that this is the price of war.
“I think the most difficult situations are when there are multiple casualties. And that frequently occurs with both our forces and Afghans.
“Well you’ve just go to deal with all of them quickly and make sure that everything’s stable in a very chaotic situation.”