Call for fresh Afghanistan strategy

The Ministry of Defence has announced the death of a soldier in Afghanistan
12 April 2012

A former senior Army commander has called for fresh strategic thinking in Afghanistan as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed British forces had suffered their first loss this year.

A soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died while on foot patrol in the Nad-e Ali area, in Helmand Province, on Sunday afternoon. His next of kin have been informed.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, said: "His dauntless courage and his sacrifice will not be forgotten."

His death takes the number of British service personnel who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001 to 246.

Major-General Andrew Mackay, who led the successful British recapture of Musa Qala from the Taliban, said the MoD was "institutionally incapable" of adapting to the rapid changes required to fight modern wars such as that in Afghanistan.

He also said the military "consistently failed" to understand the motivations of local Afghans and criticised the axing of academic research and courses for non-commissioned officers.

Maj-Gen Mackay's criticisms come in a report co-authored with Royal Navy Commander Steve Tatham and published by the MoD's Defence Academy at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. His report comes just four months after he resigned from the Army citing personal reasons, although it was widely reported he was unhappy with the treatment of British soldiers by the MoD.

He had commanded the 7,750-strong 52 Infantry Brigade in Helmand in 2007/08 and achieved much lower casualty rates in the operation to take Musa Qala than comparable operations by other British brigades, which he attributed to the adoption of different tactics.

Maj-Gen Mackay's paper claims that if the military was to be successful in battle, it had to put more focus on understanding the culture, economy and psychology of the Taliban, using a more "behaviourist" approach alongside its traditional "kinetic" power.

The paper suggested the Western education system was designed for a previous age and could not adapt to future challenges, warning: "We fear that the British armed forces may be similarly pre-disposed and from the top of the MoD through to the Army's Staff Colleges, the structures, despite the best will in the world, are institutionally incapable of keeping pace with rapid change and the associated willingness to adapt - and quickly - at the same time."

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