The fog of war in Afghanistan

Any serious scrutiny reveals the claims used to justify Nato’s presence to be utterly specious

• Charles Ferndale
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 23 August 2009 19.00 BST

On Newsnight on 20 August 2009, while being interviewed by Gaven Esler, US General David Petraeus said that the Afghan war is “not a war of choice”. He was echoing President Obama, Gordon Brown, British military officials and others. We are told constantly that Nato forces have to be there to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a training ground for terrorist attacks on our countries. The implication is that we are killing Afghans in their tens of thousands to stop Britons at home from being killed in their tens, or, at worst, in their hundreds.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Britain, Gordion Brown, Nato in Afghanistan, Taliban, US General David Petraeus, war