Opinion, June 2003, Al-Jazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
UK stepping into the breach again
Gulf
News
29-06-2003
It was Douglas Hurd, the former British Foreign
Secretary, who once said that Britain likes to punch above its weight. And
no greater opportunity for them to do so than in contributing to allied
forces fighting in foreign fields. Not content with scattering troops to
various locations around the globe to assist in peacekeeping duties or
fighting wars, Britain has now decided to send a contingent of troops to
Afghanistan. It is claimed that the force will help the newly-formed
government maintain control over local warlords outside the capital of
Kabul.
Apparently, a total of 60 British troops will be despatched next month to
the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, to work as a "provisional reconstruction
team". An additional eight teams, which will not all be British-led,
will be created for other cities later.
It is not argued that there is a need for greater law and order in the
distant regions of Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has never
really been able to have effective control of the nation and crime and
disorder are rife throughout the nation. Afghanistan is also the world's
leading exporter of opium, a crop that Karzai pledged to put an end to.
It may be that the British will be able to assist in putting some
semblance of law and order into the country, but more worrying is whether
the UK is overstretching itself in "punching above its weight".
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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