Patrick Hennessey joined the British army in 2004 and served in Iraq and Afghanistan; along the way, he wrote an acclaimed book, The Junior Officers' Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars, detailing his experiences. He's since returned to Afghanistan as a reporter.
Hennessey joins Laura in studio to talk about Tony Blair, the difference between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experience of war reporting, and winding up in a 120-year-old former British base in Afghanistan.
Hennessey himself does not seem to remember several key history lessons. First, Afghanistan is not Malaysia in the 1950′s. Second, the reason that British base was deserted was because British forces were decisively defeated and expelled from Afghanistan in the 19th Century. Just like the Afghan people defeated and expelled the Soviet forces in the 1980s. The obvious conclusion is that Afghans do not want, and will not tolerate, inteference from “Great Powers” or “Superpowers” that think they know what is best for the Afghan people and attempt to implement their plans for the Afghan people through invasion and occupation. Next, “Counter Insurgency” doctrine has failed far more times than it has “succeded.” Vietnam is but one prominent example where the same method was applied and failed to achieve any desirable results, other than greatly increasing the number of dead and injured, both military and civilian, on both sides.
After listening to Hennessey’s happy talk/propaganda about eating pizza in Kabul, etc, I wonder if he is a CIA or other intelligence agency “asset.” The reality is that life for ordinary Afghans, in all parts of the country, is the same or WORSE than it was under the Taliban. See: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175293/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_afghanistan_on_life_support__/.
Some of the salient facts in the piece: Infant mortality is as high as it was at the start of the invasion. SIXTY PERCENT of Afghan children are chronically malnourished (A ten percent increase since 2002). There are 600,000 homeless children in the country. In 2001 7 millon people were at high risk of malnutrition. The situation is now worse, with 7.4 millon at high risk, and that the food security situation has DETERIORATED in 24 out of 34 provinces since 2001. Heroin use has increased by 140%. Afghanistan is still the last country on the UN Human Poverty Index, and Ranks 181 out of 182 on the Human Development Index. And of course, there is the continuing murder, torture, and arbitrary detention of innocent Afghanis (whoops, I meant “Terrorists and Militants”) by US special forces teams engaged in “Counter Insurgency.” Combine this with one of the most corrupt governments on the planet, that committed massive election fraud to ensure that it remains in power.
The obvious conclusion is that the current “Empire” that is occupying Afghanistan doesn’t give a damn about ordinary Afghans or their well being. It wishes to maintain and extend it’s control in that part of the world, and is willing to engage in whatever strategy that it believes will advance that end. It will fail, inveitably, as it has in the past, and when it finally leaves Afghanis will be left with the same mess it created in the 1980s by arming radical militants and warlords to overthrough the terrible menace of Communism.
By Jim Steel on September 16th, 2010 at 1:15 am