A High Price, But More to Do in Afghanistan
A High Price, But More to Do in Afghanistan
Richard Lee-Smith
One of my most vivid memories from my time in Afghanistan in 2011 is the thud of a helicopter urgently approaching overhead. As a child I was fascinated by the mesmerizing flying machines. But in the dusty desert of southern Afghanistan they were often an ominous sign. The noise of a helicopter coming in to land far from the usual landing strips could only mean one thing: that another serviceman or woman had life threatening injuries and was being brought in for urgent surgery. The hospital nearby was amongst the best trauma centres in the world. Countless lives were saved there. But hundreds were left with severe injuries – physical and emotional scars. Sadly too many were so badly injured they could not be saved. They paid the ultimate price for our efforts in Afghanistan.
Thankfully we have made great strides in improving the way we care for our veterans. We are now more aware than ever of the struggles they face when they come home and are better at providing support. Celebrations of their strength with such events as the Invictus Games held in London earlier this year would never have happened in the UK several years ago.
Our soldiers, diplomats and aid workers have paid a high cost. We should make sure that their lives have not been lost in vain. And that means persisting in our engagement with Afghanistan – albeit in a different way than before.
After 13 years of a military campaign in Afghanistan, some legitimately question what more can be achieved. Despite our investments, Afghans still do not have the country they deserve. But progress has been made. We went into Afghanistan in collective defence of our freedom from terror. Terror plots such as Sept. 11 can no longer be planned freely from the mountains east of Kabul. Osama Bin Laden was killed. Al Qaida is a shadow of its former self in that country. The US and UK will continue to work together to target terrorists in the region and elsewhere.
Having been trained by NATO, Afghan forces are now capable of taking responsibility for security. So it is right that the UK, the US, and our NATO allies will scale back our fight against the Taliban in the next few weeks. We will still support the Afghan armed forces: for example, the UK has established an officer training academy for the Afghan army just outside Kabul. But over time, Afghans will need to find a way to talk to the Taliban and bring the violence to an end. Only once there is peace will the country really be able to flourish and stand on its own.
We must continue to help improve the lives of the people of Afghanistan. If the economy grows, people will find profitable alternatives to producing the opium that blights our streets in the form of heroin. On some fronts, we have made undeniable progress. Our aid has helped more than 2.5 million Afghan girls to now attend school. A decade ago there were almost none. Access to primary healthcare has increased from 9% to cover over half the Afghan population. Cell phone service where I worked in Kabul is now better than at my apartment in London!
We have a role to play in helping Afghanistan on this course. So our soldiers, diplomats and aid workers will stay to help – albeit in smaller numbers than at the height of the war. The British Prime Minister and new Afghan President will host international talks in London this week to discuss how we can continue to help Afghanistan stand on its own in the future. At the London Conference on Afghanistan, we will be listening to how President Ghani wants to reform the country. He will need to cut back spending. Corruption will not end overnight, but with less money to go around, what there is must not be stolen.
Afghanistan can be a sustainable success. But this will take time. Afghanistan remains for now one of the poorest countries in the world. It will need financial support for several years to come. So the UK rightly gives more aid to Afghanistan than almost any other country in the world. In return for that aid, we should press for reforms that will help the country’s economy grow.
The best way we can honour the high price we’ve paid is to make sure our hard-won gains do not go to waste. I now work on Afghanistan from the British Embassy in Washington. We are right next to the Vice President’s residence. As Marine 2 comes in to land next door, it reminds me of the helicopters in Afghanistan and those that gave so much. The reminder makes me more determined than ever that we make sure that they did not do so in vain.
