CLASES DE INGLÉS – THE BRITISH IN AFGHANISTAN (LOS BRITÁNICOS EN AFGHANISTAN)

Mejore su inglés y eche un vistazo al texto de abajo y en caso de que tenga alguna duda o comentario, háganoslo llegar por email a la dirección info@access-ingl.es   Para obtener más información sobre los cursos de inglés y clases de inglés en Gandía para empresas o particulares, contacta Lindsay – si quiere aprender inglés…The British role in the war in Afghanistan continues to be controversial. Almost 100 British soldiers have now been killed this year and since the UK first went into Afghanistan more than 230 Brit1sh service men and women have lost their lives.The question is why are the British in Afghanistan? This is a question that seems to not to have been answered to the satisfaction of the British population. Originally, the aim was claimed by the Government to be that of stopping the drugs trade – as much of the heroin that comes to the UK is from Afghanistan and Helmand Province. However, over time, this reason has changed in a classic case of ‘mission creep’. Some time ago the British people were told by their government that the aim of its military was to rebuild democracy in Afghanistan. Recently, however, the British government has said that Afghanistan is of critical importance to the national security of the UK!

Certainly, there are good reasons for Britain to be cautious about fighting in Afghanistan as it is the only country in which the UK has ‘lost’ an entire army. In 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842) the British army in Afghanistan was massacred by the Afghans. Indeed, there was only one survivor, a doctor! It is fair to say that this defeat was reversed some thirty six years later during the 2nd Anglo-Afghan War (1878 – 1880) but it was a warning that Afghanistan was somewhere dangerous to be – even for a major world power.

In fact, for many years, Afghanistan was a crucial ‘pawn’ for the British Empire and a vital ‘buffer’ (rather like Uruguay for Argentina and Brazil) between India and Russia. For well over a century Britain and Russia fought a form of clandestine war in Afghanistan which became known as ‘the Great Game’. The British aim was to stop Russia invading India which was the ‘jewel’ of the British Empire – because of the wealth that it produced for Britain.

Of course, Britain’s interest in India effectively vanished when, in 1947, India gained its independence. However, the large population of people in the UK who are from (or descended from) Indians and Pakistani’s means that Britain has a large and active Muslim population. This means that Britain has a very real interest in the stability of Pakistan and India and, as a consequence, (theoretically) in what happens in Afghanistan.

Of course, one argument is that Britain should have no involvement in Afghanistan because it will do little more than upset the Indians and Pakistanis living in the UK – some of whom have a greater allegiance to their Muslim religion and descendants than to the UK.

Certainly, it seems hard to understand the logic of Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan given Russia’s defeat in 1989. At that time, Russia had been fighting the Afghans for ten years without success – and with greatly more troops than the current Western alliance.

In the UK there is tremendous pride and support for the British military. However, as every day passes, more people are wondering why we are at war – and for what reason…

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