Here we go again

[RAENORTH]

... reinventing the wheel. The Times is running a story headed: "Army tells its soldiers to 'bribe' the Taleban", revealing that a new army field manual published yesterday is telling British forces to buy off potential Taliban recruits with "bags of gold". The edicts, which are contained in rewritten counter-insurgency guidelines, will be taught to all new army officers. They mark a strategic rethink after three years in which British and Nato forces have failed to defeat the Taliban. The manual is also a recognition that the Army’s previous doctrine for success against insurgents, which was based on the experience in Northern Ireland, is now out of date.

View full article here

[therewaslight]

That does not make sense. Why should they behave well if they know we, and our bribes, are about to leave?

Or maybe, this is simply a public relations exercise by our Trougher-in-Chief who has decided to reduce casualty rates by any means short of undignified retreat before the general election. Hence also that a political decision has been made to pull out of Afghanistan (Brown's call for a NATO summit in January)?

A proper bribery system for that region would funnel monies not through the Pakistan or Kabul states, but through a Pashtun state based in Kandahar. The government in Kandahar would be seen as a permanent presence and if the Pashtun ever are to cooperate and develop economically they need to learn to respect this authority.

[Demetrius]

As a last resort we could send in Goldman Sachs, HBOS, RBS, Morgan Stanley and AIG, plus a few hedge funds and private equity groups. They would soon sort it out, entirely to their satisfaction.