DC on supporting our troops at Christmas

David Cameron writes ...

As the snow falls across our country this week, let's remember the soldiers who are serving in the wind and frost of Afghanistan.

Christmas is a tough time to be away from your family, and for many families, this Christmas will be especially painful as they think of the loved ones they have lost this past year. But every single soldier and all their families should know that the whole country is right behind them and incredibly grateful for the work that they do.

Earlier this month, I made my fourth trip to Afghanistan. As you can see in this video, I got to see a bit of what life can be like for our troops. Just before I arrived, President Obama announced a big increase in American troops for Afghanistan. If you add in the extra soldiers Britain is sending over, we now have the best chance to ensure that our counter-insurgency campaign is successful, deliver a safer country to the Afghan authorities, and then bring our brave troops back home.

One of the best ways of thanking our soldiers is by holding big awards ceremonies like the Sun Military Awards last week. This was the second time that I've been to the Awards - and both times I've been staggered by the stories I've heard. Seeing service personnel like Able Seaman Kate Nesbitt, who ran seventy yards under fire to rescue a comrade, and Royal Marine Ben McBean, who lost an arm and a leg in a Taleban blast and then ran the London Marathon, pick up awards is an amazing experience, humbling as well as inspiring.

We should all take the time to think about our troops this Christmas. These men and women are performing heroics for our country. So let's show our support for them and for the families who miss them at home.

Comments

Tim said…
Nice to see yet another example of Tory policy that is indistinguishable from Labour's. The good old commodity war ! Instead of bigging it up for HM forces, who have a choice about being there (you don't have to join the army), let's here more about the plight of Afghanis some of whom have been blown to bits by good old Uncle Sam's bunker busting bombs
2:22 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Are you getting Iraq and Afghanistan mixed up, Tim? Last I heard there was no oil in Afghanistan.

However, there did used to be the terrorist training camps responsible for killing thousands of people in the West.

And perhaps you are right that we should hear more about Afghan civilians. Now I don't for a moment suggest that everything the United Nations forces have done in Afghanistan is perfect or above criticism, but perhaps we should hear a bit more about all the Afghans who were murdered in massive numbers by the Taleban?

And perhaps we should hear a bit more about the Afghans who had been resisting the Taleban, and were delighted to accept our aid to get rid of that awful and murderous regime.

And most of all, we should hear a bit more about Afghan women, on whom the Taleban imposed an absolute ban on going to school pr college, working for a living, or receiving any medical attention whatsoever, and who now have some chance of getting those things. (Still not enough but there has been a vast improvement.)

And I make no apology whatsoever for supporting the men and women of the British Armed forces who risk their lives to protect this country. The fact that they are volunteers rather than conscripts is to their credit, not something to attack them for.
9:01 pm
Tim said…
There may be no oil in Afghanistan, but there is an ongoing project to build a pipeline through it by Unacol. In the mid 90s the Clinton regime invited the Taleban to Washington to try to persuade them of the benefits of this scheme - they declined !
I love the way you try to patronise people like myself who don't go along with the establishment line on this war:

"Are you getting Iraq and Afghanistan mixed up, Tim? Last I heard there was no oil in Afghanistan" Pat him on the head (he's obviously thick)

In America there are also training camps - the School of the Americas in Georgia. This camp has been churning out terrorists for decades who have gone to wreak havoc in many parts of the World - MILLIONS have died - but of course it wasn't news in Britain - it's never news in Britain.

During the 70s,80s and 90's and probably to this day NORAID have been passing round the hat in Boston for the jolly old IRA. This was of course going on even at the height of the great Ronnie and Maggie love in. Based on what happened in Afghanistan from 2001 onwards, the RAF would have been justified in bombing said city of Boston, but curiously this didn't happen.
4:57 pm
Tim said…
The Heroes are at it again !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8432653.stm
3:16 pm
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