Flying out to Afghan uncertainty

By George Alagiah
BBC News, Lashkar Gah

George Alagiah joined C Company on patrol in Lashkar Gar

"Welcome aboard flight RR 3242, our flying time will be six-and-a-half hours with a brisk tail wind." The words may have been reassuringly familiar, but the circumstances were extraordinary.

I was on board an RAF Tristar out of Brize Norton and heading for Kandahar.

Around me a couple of hundred British soldiers from C Company from the 2nd Battalion, Princess of Wales's Regiment heading for some of the toughest environments this country's military has seen since the World War II.

No wonder there was silence all around me. Some had their earphones on, others seemed lost in their private thoughts.

Next to me Michelle was starting a three-month tour of duty; she will be away for Christmas but had made sure there'd be something for friends and family.

"It was weird buying Christmas presents in October," she said.

So the flight was like a bridge between the routine of home life and the uncertainty of a war zone thousands of miles away.

Isolated bases

From Kandahar the troops would head out to any one of the 41 bases that make up Operation Herrick, the codename for Britain's military mission in Afghanistan.

The danger for Britain is that its presence here will be tainted by the failures of the politicians in Kabul and many of their counterparts in the provinces

Some would end up in Camp Bastion, a vast garrison which is home to about 4,000 men and women and the size of a small town.

Others would find themselves in the isolated patrol bases, the outposts of Britain's presence in the country.

These young men and women are the latest in a long line of Britons who have brought their guns to this rugged land, yet failed to subdue its fiercely independent people.

The lessons of history are not encouraging. The massacre of the British garrison in 1842 stands out because of its scale - among the 16,000 killed were wives, children and camp followers - but it was not the only defeat inflicted on the British.

Of course this time it is different.

Britain is not here to conquer. It is part of 40 nation military coalition that is here at the behest of the Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai.

Therein lies the rub. The military mission is to provide a secure enough environment for the government in Kabul to fulfil its obligation to the people of Afghanistan.

Tainted presence?

But what if the government is inefficient and corrupt?

Those are accusations I have heard more than once during my short stay.

Forty nations make up the military coalition in Afghanistan

The danger for Britain is that its presence here will be tainted by the failures of the politicians in Kabul and many of their counterparts in the provinces.

When their tour of duty finishes the soldiers I flew out with will be able to go back with their heads held high.

Having joined the men of C Company as they patrolled the streets of Lashkar Gar, I can attest to their sheer professionalism and their willingness to reach out to the Afghans they are here to protect.

But I fear that for all their commitment of blood, sweat and, who knows, tears they will still leave behind a country still beset by banditry, corruption and political intrigue.