An excellent article, slightly marred by a "we're all doomed" tone - the troops thankfully escaped unscathed due to their training and professionalism rather than relying entirely on good fortune, even with 2 civilians to look after.

The photos reinforce the reality that British forces have been committed to highly dangerous counter-insurgency operations in support of an unclear and contradictory mission without any Parliamentary vote, and the disgraceful lies of Reid and Browne must be challenged. Were the announcements made to Parliament in February that there were adequate forces motivated by deceit or incompetence, or both?

The ministerial and MoD response will be to try and survive until the Parliamentary recess by dodging questions. There needs to be a debate in Parliament next week, and if this is avoided, then there must be public and media pressure to ensure the recall of Parliament if this calamity continues.

We know that Reid should be put against a wall and shot for his lies which will have cost lives - is it likely that Browne will be any improvement? The ultimate blame for this calamity lies with a deranged egomaniac (in all probability with a clinical mental disorder) who sees the prospect of troops in action as political and emotional Viagra, regardless of the "blood price".

Incidentally, the intrepid Christina Lamb featured in the most recent Private Eye.

She was overheard in a Kabul restaurant having an argument with her foreign desk about their insistence that she hire a car and drive down into Helmland, despite the refusal of the MoD to co-operate with her.

Possibly the best war correspondent type article I have read since the early days of Korea.
Shows why I'd be no good as a Para officer. I'd have suggested that the air resource go and practise on the village whilst they were there. The comment of the air gunner in Vietnam comes to mind. "How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy - just don't lead so much"
Afghanistan is a brutal place - just read some of the history. Hearts and minds or any sort of forebearance is seen as weakness and not examples of how to live in a tribal country. Obviously, our ROE will not permit the response that the insurgents need (and expect). The drug control will not work. The external market is just too strong and we show no signs of being able to control that. All the while it sells, it will be produced. The improvements in standards of living and health are not understood by the locals. If they were, they would have introduced them themselves.
Time for an exit. Now. Before we sacrifice any more lives for politicians safely ensconsed in grace and favour homes shafting the junior staff or on the scrounge from billionaires.

“If we get overrun I’ll save the last bullet for myself,� said Private Kyle Deerans, a handsome South African of 23. With his black floppy hair, I was sure had broken a string of hearts.

LOL. Immortalised as a gorgeous hero. Just wait until the film gets made. He'll be turned into a yank and played by Brad Pitt with Keira Knightley as the feisty reporter. :D

A truly excellent report of what's actually happening on the ground - instead of all the bullshit pumped out by the gobment parrots. I've got a really bad feeling about Afghanistan. I think the situation there is very much worse than this (isolated) article implies.
The Ivans had a couple of hundred thousand grunts on the ground and they still got their arrses handed to 'em. So what chance have a few thousand coalition troops got? Particularly because the Krauts will pull their troops as soon as the brown and smelly drops into the ventilation device.
As good as Brit squaddies are, I think they've been sold down the river so that Phoney Tony doesn't feel like a cünt when he's with his pal/handler Bush the Bewildered.
Pull the lads out now! It's a no-win situation (although I remain convinced that the British Army really could have made a difference if they Septics hadn't got there first).

MsG

Even if some of the poppy supply is reduced it will have the effect of raising the price and will make growing poppies even more valuable to the locals. Any chance of a successful hearts and minds campaign is diminished by the American offensive to kill as many Talibs as possible. This appears to be mission impossible.

Why are we surprised ? Just follow the money. Afghanistan is kept afloat by two sources of money, opium sales and foreign aid. Foreign aid keeps the Mayor of Kabul (sorry, President of Afghanistan) and his cronies in power and pays for his mercenary bodyguards. Everyone else lives off the proceeds of opium sales.

Hence the equation is quite simple. No opium = no money = no food. One of our avowed aims is to stop drug production, hence to the locals we're the guys who are trying to make them starve to death. The failure to date of alternative sources of income due to lack of money, incompetence and good old fashioned corruption mean that no-one in the country will believe otherwise.

What worried me was the way that the lads out there appeared to believe the sh!te and lies the current Govt have been spewing while the journo had a more realistic understanding of the situation. Crap int equals dead toms. The whole god forsaken place isn't worth the lives of a single British soldier.

More recent news from Afghanistan appears to give this need for reinforcements even greater urgency - or, even better, the politicians must swallow their pride and get us out of this mess.

I heard Patrick Mercer MP ( website ) on Radio 4 this morning, saying if he'd been shown the current plan whilst he was an instructor at the Staff College, he'd have sent it back to the student and told them to try again.

I'm sure our troops in Afghanistan will do much better than anyone expects; it's the way of the British Armed Forces through the centuries.

That said, they should be given every support and not starved of resources to further politicians' legacies and careers.

Excellent article. A true reporter and supporter of the troops.

Very Brave too. I wish her luck and godspeed.