? Act III, Scene iii | Main | Coyote fugly ?
December 20, 2010
Tanks? You're welcome.
The British army is somewhat belatedly deciding to send tanks to Afghanistan (via Gates of Vienna).
Senior army commanders have asked for the Challenger 2 tanks to be deployed in Helmand, in an admission that forces there lack armoured protection.
Because British forces had not noticed they lacked armoured protection until now, apparently. While they offer the same rationale as the Americans for not having sent in the tanks already (bad PR with the Taliban a more pressing concern than fighting the Taliban), to me the plain fact seems to be they hadn't done it because the Americans hadn't done it.
Pathetic, really.
Graveyard of empires related: Helmand's ruined citadel (video at the link). This isn't Kipling, it's Conan.
A few miles south of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province lie the ruins of an ancient fortress, Qala-e-Bost.
The Zoroastrian sun festival in honor of the Spring equinox, the Nauruz, is thought to have been celebrated here three thousand years ago. References to a fort at this location date back to the fourth century BC and Alexander the Great is thought to have used it.
Today, the citadel's sinister foundations still stand, protected by the rocky mound around them, but in war-torn Afghanistan they receive few visitors.
The Zoroastrian sun festival in honor of the Spring equinox, the Nauruz, is thought to have been celebrated here three thousand years ago. References to a fort at this location date back to the fourth century BC and Alexander the Great is thought to have used it.
Today, the citadel's sinister foundations still stand, protected by the rocky mound around them, but in war-torn Afghanistan they receive few visitors.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at December 20, 2010 08:04 AM
