This isn't a surprise, as we lost the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Well, arguably we came away with a draw in the 3rd Afghan War, but only because we used the RAF to extensively bomb the natives and we set our Victory Aims as 'driving the Afghans out of India'. We didn't, note, follow them into Afghanistan - we'd learnt from the first two fuck ups.
Why do I say we're losing?
Well, the other day, a Royal Marine Commando was killed in action during an attempt to drive some 'Taliban' (might be Talib, might be Al Qaeda, might be warlord troops, might be anyone) from a fort.
During this operation we used; B1 strategic bombers, 155mm artillery, close air support, Apache helicopter gunships, light tanks - Scimitars, that is - and a company of Royal Marines. Their objective was to seize the fort.
Instead, they lost four WIA and one KIA, fell back, and failed to take the fort from the Taliban.
Couple this with the withdrawal from the Platoon Houses, the failure of several offensives designed to crush the rebels/insurgents/terrorists/enemy Once And For All (again), the abandonment of US bases on the Pakistani border because they came under constant attack, and the big list of other screw-ups, losses, and backward steps and it becomes once again apparent that:
You DO NOT fuck with the Afghans.
We should have LEARNT THIS by now.
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