Politics

'How can you argue against an Afghan War enquiry?'

September 11, 2013
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Prospect held a round table discussion on Tuesday morning on Britain’s war in Afghanistan. This follows on from this month's cover story (link to cover feature) which sets out the unanswered questions about the war and suggested that an inquiry should be held. This suggestion formed the basis of the discussion.

The judgement of the assembled group of senior diplomats, military personnel and politicians was withering. Sherard Cowper-Coles, the former British Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan described Britain’s activity in Afghanistan as “a massive collective mistake.” He went on to say that “many of us, including me, around this table are guilty of a combination of wishful thinking, of over-eagerness to please, ambition getting in the way of doing our professional duty and a whole chain of things.”

However, he stopped short of calling for an inquiry, saying that it would yield little, and only serve as an extended reminder that humans are fallible and make bad decisions.

This view was not shared—Rear Admiral Chris Parry said he was strongly in favour of an inquiry, referring to “a series of myths that have grown up,” in connection with the war in Afghanistan “that need to be laid to rest.”

Bob Ainsworth, the Labour MP and former Secretary of state for Defence, while acknowledging that there would be some resistance to an inquiry, said that “I do not see how you can argue against one.” The area of focus, he suggested, would have to be the decision to go into Helmand, and what was said at the time of that decision about the consequences of deploying in the province.

Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP and member of the Defence Select Committee stated that, in her opinion, at some stage an enquiry was inevitable, a view reflected by the Conservative MP James Gray. (Link to earlier piece by him on Can War Be Democratic)

John Kerr, the former senior diplomat, said that he was not a fan of inquiries, but conceded that the Helmand decision required investigation. But rather than the Chilcot model of inquiry—which examined the Iraq war and is yet to report—he suggested a process closer to the Butler review, which would not go out explicitly to find “guilty men”. It would also have the added advantage of keeping lawyers out of proceedings.

Pauline Neville-Jones, the former Minister for Security and Counter Terrorism approved of this suggestion, cautioning that it was wise to be sparing with enquiries, as “you don’t want to cheapen the currency.”

What emerged from these comments and others was the strong sense of a systemic failure in the conduct of Britain’s Afghanistan War. Diplomats and soldiers were put under pressure to give only good news about the progress of the conflict—the system in which they operated demanded positive feedback. This was grossly counter-productive. There was a breakdown in communication between the military and politicians, who were constantly changing roles or being replaced. The relationship with the US was complicated by the factionalism of the American military and diplomatic structure, meaning that the policy of “stay close to the Americans,” resulted in British forces becoming just another one of those factions.

There were strong voices on both sides of the debate this morning, both for and against the notion of an inquiry. That unanswered questions remain, however, is beyond doubt.

Present:

The Rt. Hon. Bob Ainsworth, Labour MP for Coventry North East

Julian Brazier, Conservative MP for Canterbury

Tom Coghlan, Defence Correspondent, The Times and former Afghanistan correspondent

Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, former Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan

Jonathan Derbyshire, Managing Editor, Prospect

The Rt. Hon. Jeffrey Donaldson, DUP MP for Lagan Valley

Jay Elwes, Deputy Editor, Prospect

Lt. Gen. Sir Robert Fry, ex-Senior British Military Representative, Multinational Force, Iraq

James Gray, Conservative MP for North Wiltshire

Deborah Haynes, Defence Correspondent, The Times

Sir Simon Jenkins, columnist, author and Chairman of the National Trust

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, former diplomat

The Rt. Hon. Baroness Neville-Jones, ex-Minister of State for Security and Counter Terrorism

Rear Admiral Christopher Parry, ex-Chair of the Government's Marine Management Organisation

Sir William Patey, former British Ambassador to Afghanistan

Gisela Stuart, Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston

Admiral the Rt. Hon Lord West of Spithead, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office