{"id":632,"date":"2012-06-09T19:20:31","date_gmt":"2012-06-09T19:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coopsy.co.uk\/thenews\/?p=632"},"modified":"2012-06-10T14:46:10","modified_gmt":"2012-06-10T14:46:10","slug":"afghanistan-the-great-game-by-rory-stewart-bbc-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-news.uk\/index.php\/news\/overseas-news\/2012\/06\/afghanistan-the-great-game-by-rory-stewart-bbc-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan- The Great Game by Rory Stewart BBC 2"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reviewed by William Mills<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
afghan warrior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rory Stewart MP<\/h4>\n

Rory Stewart\u2019s remarkable life story was enhanced by this excellent programme. The MP for Penrith and the Border, former regional governor of Iraq recounted Britain\u2019s involvement with the Afghans, a truly fascinating and fiercely independent people.<\/p>\n

Iraq, Afghanistan<\/h4>\n

Afghanistan first appeared on the European powers\u2019 radar in the 1830\u2019s. The British Empire\u2019s greatest possession, India was situated to the south, with the Russians to the north, of this previously undiscovered mountainous land.<\/p>\n

Britain and Russia<\/h4>\n

Both Britain and Russia decided the other was about to invade this strategically important crossroads. At least that\u2019s how it looked on the map.<\/p>\n

India<\/h4>\n

Britain\u2019s thought train worked along the lines that India was the Crown\u2019s largest source of income. Should it be lost England would no longer be able to afford its navy leaving itself open to foreign invasion.<\/p>\n

Accordingly the hawks reasoned it was vital to conquer Afghanistan in order to save Britain from this immediate, imminent threat to its safety. Or so they thought.<\/p>\n

Alexander Burns<\/h4>\n

In 1831 a gifted government employee, 28 year old Alexander Burns, was sent on a twelve month mapping expedition of this mysterious land. On his return to London he was an overnight sensation. His subsequent book Travels into Bokhara<\/em> was widely regarded.<\/p>\n

Kabul<\/h4>\n

In 1836 he was sent back to Kabul where the British and Russians were spying on each other. The Russians referred to this as \u2018The Torment of Shadows\u2019 whereas the British called it \u2018The Great Game.\u2019<\/p>\n

Duke of Wellington<\/h4>\n

By 1839 the British Government had convinced itself\u00a0 Russia was about to invade. Alexander Burns was emphatic Afghanistan should be left well alone. The Duke of Wellington called it \u2018madness\u2019, but by then the hawks had won.<\/p>\n

Khyber Pass<\/h4>\n

The British Army crossed the Khyber Pass from India into Afghanistan with typical \u00a022 year old officers leading camel trains packed with regimental silver and foxhounds, arriving in Kabul in April 1839.<\/p>\n

Otherwise the garrison lived apart. It failed to appreciate the rich civilisation of its reluctant hosts. For instance the Afghans were masters of miniature picture painting.<\/p>\n

British women<\/h4>\n

The Afghans and Army of Occupation largely ignored one and another until in 1841 British women\u00a0 arrived in numbers and babies started to be born. The Afghans became worried, despairing the invaders would leave.<\/p>\n

It was also clear their choice of puppet ruler was a failure. The British had interfered in local politics with a regime change. They had removed a popular ruler and replaced him with a previously toppled one.<\/p>\n

Stories circulated around the bazaar like wild fire. Allegations were made of British men molesting Muslim women which the Afghans regarded as insulting.<\/p>\n

In November 1841 the speed it all came to ahead shocked everyone. Burns, who spoke the language and whose house was in the centre of town, was chased home in fear of his life. He made a desperate roof top escape bid disguising himself as a native.<\/p>\n

Next morning his head was being paraded through the bazaar.<\/p>\n

General Elphinstone<\/h4>\n

Three days later General Elphinstone, the British commander, offered to surrender. His garrison comprised of around 4,500 troops and 13,000 civilians. He was ill and unable to plan coherently.<\/p>\n

India<\/h4>\n

He decided to retreat in appalling winter weather towards the Indian border. Trapped in a bleak valley they were mown down by Afghan guerrillas with the 44th<\/sup> Foot making the last stand. But one man, a Dr. Brydon, was left alive to tell the sorry tale.<\/p>\n

General Roberts<\/h4>\n

Rory Stewart gave viewers an excellent account of the blunders of history and how they seem to keep repeating themselves. He continued with how after a second Anglo-Afghan war in 1870, General Roberts, who hanged a 100 hostages, had remarked, \u2018The less they see of us, the less they dislike us.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Russian General speaking of his country\u2019s 1970\u2019s disastrous invasion and war against the Mujahedeen was more blunt. \u2018Leave now.\u2019 was his advice.<\/p>\n

A programme well worth watching.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been announced that British troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by December 2014. A book about the Army Air Corp actions in Afghanistan paid tribute to the Apache helicopter crews operating there. It stated that without their superior firepower and agility the Coalition ground forces would have had a much tougher time.<\/p>\n

During the 1970\u2019s invasion, the Soviets used their helicopter gunships to wear down the Afghan resistance. Then the American CIA supplied the Mujahedeen, and Osama Bin Laden among them, with shoulder launched anti aircraft missiles.<\/p>\n

Once their helicopters were being shot down in numbers, the Russians found themselves in an unwinnable position and left.<\/p>\n

It is rumoured the Americans tried to repurchase any unused missiles. However with the unstoppable advance of technology these weapons must become easier to manufacture and therefore more numerous.<\/p>\n

If the Afghans have a secret stash of missiles saved for a rainy day one wonders which that day might be.<\/p>\n

Accounts of America\u2019s 1975 retreat from Vietnam paint a raw picture of a chaotic evacuation from the roof top of the Saigon US embassy by fleets of\u00a0 Aircraft carrier based helicopters.<\/p>\n

One suggestion was once a decision to retreat militarily has been taken, the occupying power should leave quickly and unannounced.<\/p>\n

Should the Taliban have a stash of anti-helicopter missiles, when better to use them than in the weeks leading up to a scheduled pull out from Kabul?<\/p>\n

The resulting chaos would give the new rulers\u00a0 status as victors over the superpowers.<\/p>\n

The British are not the colonial power granting final independence to an adoring peaceful former possession.<\/p>\n

So why bother with flag lowering ceremonies? Surely better would be a \u2018gone in the night job\u2019, passed off as a strategic redeployment. <\/p>\n

\n
here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by William Mills Rory Stewart MP Rory Stewart\u2019s remarkable life story was enhanced by this excellent programme. The MP for Penrith and the Border, former regional governor of Iraq recounted Britain\u2019s involvement with the Afghans, a truly fascinating and fiercely independent people. Iraq, Afghanistan Afghanistan first appeared on the European powers\u2019 radar in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,103],"tags":[132,135,136,134,133],"class_list":["post-632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-overseas-news","category-politics-2","tag-afghanistan","tag-duke-of-wellington","tag-iraq","tag-khyber-pass","tag-rory-stewart-mp"],"yoast_head":"\nAfghanistan- The Great Game by Rory Stewart BBC 2 - THE NEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/the-news.uk\/index.php\/news\/overseas-news\/2012\/06\/afghanistan-the-great-game-by-rory-stewart-bbc-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghanistan- The Great Game by Rory Stewart BBC 2 - THE NEWS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reviewed by William Mills Rory Stewart MP Rory Stewart\u2019s remarkable life story was enhanced by this excellent programme. 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