Why A Former Para Commander Quit The Army After Afghanistan

The Paras in Afghanistan

From Times Online:

In his first newspaper interview, ex-para commander Stuart Tootal tells Christina Lamb why his Afghan experience made him quit

It was supposed to be a straightforward operation. A Taliban commander was apparently holed up in a mudwalled compound just outside Naw Zad in northern Helmand province, and about 100 paras and Gurkhas were sent in to cordon it off and seize him. The plan was for the Gurkhas and Patrols Platoon to drive in from opposite sides and secure the outer perimeter, then A Company would be dropped in by helicopter, search the compound, grab him and get away.

Supervising from the air was Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Tootal, commander of 3 Para, the first British battle group to go into Helmand in southwest Afghanistan. As he peered from his helicopter to see the three Chinooks bringing in A Company, he felt a glow of satisfaction.

“I thought, it’s all going like clockwork,” he recalled. “We’re going to move in, surprise the guy, might even catch him. Then I heard, ‘Contact, contact, contact!’”

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My Comment: As I had mentioned in previous posts, you are a soldier in Afghanistan and you read about stories that the U.K. Defense Department are spending billions in building new aircraft carriers even though you need helicopters now ..... and Osama Bin Laden's man in Europe not only makes more money than you do but is taken better care of while your own soldiers rot ..... one can easily see how moral may slip.

The political leadership in Britain has completely failed and collapsed when it comes to Afghanistan. The failure of British forces in Basra, Iraq should have been the wake-up call for everyone to realize that the British Army is not what it once was. That inadequate political, bureaucratic, civilian, and resource support has left the Army in a complete state of limbo. This is costing lives, and is sapping the support of our Afghan allies and coalition forces.

Will the U.K. government start to do something different .... I doubt it. The inertia and lack of will is truly appalling.