Leading figures from the North East give views on continued Afghanistan war
Nov 12 2009 by Michael Kelly, The Journal
As the body count continues to rise and there seems to no end in sight to the conflict in Afghanistan, a wide ranging spectrum of people from politicians to those who have lost loved ones in the war give their views on whether or not we should pull our troops. Mike Kelly reports.
PETER Atkinson, Conservative MP for Hexham, Northumberland.
He said: “Undoubtedly there’s a job to do out there, whether we’re doing it the right way is the question. We need to think carefully. If we abandon Afghanistan to its fate it will once again become a centre of serious instability. It has various resources like heroin which can be used to finance all sorts of troublemaking around the world, not least in Pakistan, which is a nuclear power, which is a worry.
“I see a lot of difficulties also from abandoning the Afghan people who want their lives improving, want their women and children educated. Millions of them have been refugees in Pakistan not able to go home.
“What we do depends on President Obama and maybe we have to re-think our strategy. But it is important for people to be there for peace in that part of the world and the wider world.”
SIR Alan Beith, Lib Dem MP for Berwick, Northumberland.
"Our military strategy requires us to help build up Afghan institutions – government, army, police and public services with which we can work. It will also require us to negotiate with elements of the Taliban, many of whom although hostile to our beliefs, are not closely aligned with international terrorism. But we can only continue to send troops there as long as we have a realistic prospect of achieving our original aim, which is to protect the citizens of this country and our allies from terrorist attack.
"Recently I attended a briefing by senior officers of our armed forces on the present situation and the tactics on the ground, and I believe a more realistic and practical approach to the mission has been developed. This is no time to walk away, but a time for disengagement will come and we must not let the mission develop into a long-term military commitment.
"If the people of this country are to be protected from terrorist acts, we may soon find we have to direct our attention to other ungoverned countries where the terrorists can base themselves, like Somalia or Yemen."
HARI Shukla, OBE, from Newcastle is a former director of the Tyne and Wear Racial Council and a multicultural ambassador.
He said: "I think they should stay and carry on their work but I have every sympathy for the members of our armed forces who are in Afghanistan and doing a magnificent job.
"The important thing is we’re not at war with any country, we’re there to preserve peace and maintain order. In this violent world that means our armed forces are playing a very important role. I work really closely with the armed services and I’m really proud of the way they are serving not just our country but the world. I feel pain when I hear of any of them being hurt or killed and I feel for their families. But what would happen if they came home, if everybody came home? There would be chaos. We are trying to stop these people from destroying our world."
JOHN Nichol was raised in North Shields, North Tyneside, and is a former RAF navigator who was shot down and held captive with pilot John Peters during the first Gulf War.
He said: "In 2001 we set out to Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom promising liberation from despotic tyranny and we haven’t delivered that yet.
"There are many areas we can criticise Government policy. The military was sent out on a mission and few people would disagree it hasn’t been given the necessary resources. The lives lost and the injuries suffered are a tragedy but are we prepared to abandon Afghanistan or are we prepared to give it one last chance but this time do it properly?
"I think we need to give the military the resources it needs and that will cost billions of pounds. We don’t need an extra 500 troops we need an extra half a million troops.
"We’ve got to remember the good, honest decent people in Afghanistan, who are the majority, to whom we have a moral obligation.
"We should stay but change our tactics."
ANNE Leech’s son Kevin was killed alongside two other North East fusiliers, Richard Gillespie and Paul Atkinson, when their Warrior armoured troop carrier was blown up in a ‘friendly fire’ tragedy by an American F10 Tankbuster in 1991.
Anne of Prudhoe, Northumberland, said: "I don’t think they should be there and really think they should be brought home. It’s an unwinnable war. People have tried before in Afghanistan and not succeeded. We’ve gone in to change the regime. I might not agree with the regime but I don’t know how we had the right.
"The war has been going on for eight years and every day it seems we see young soldiers being killed. It breaks my heart."
IN A bitter irony, Elsie Manning’s daughter Staff Sgt Sharron Elliott had only been in Iraq for a week when a bomb hidden under a bridge sent shrapnel tearing through her rigid patrol craft killing her and three others on Poppy Day, 2006.
Elsie said: "They should be brought home. They’re just kids operating in a man’s world and being killed. For what? They are not going to win, they’ve been fighting wars in Afghanistan for hundreds of years and nobody’s ever won there. The fighting is constant and there’s no escape. We should bring them home."
RAFIQUL Alam is North East spokesman for the Islamic Forum of Europe which is affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain.
He said: "I think this war is unwinnable so there seems no point to it. Our soldiers are paying too high a price and it is a waste of resources."
