Not learning ...

Okay, we all agree we refused to learn any lessons from the time we spent in Vietnam, proven by the war and resulting occupation in Iraq. We also haven't learned the lessons* the Russians did after they spent a decade in Afghanistan:

Soldiers deployed in Helmand province five years on from the US-led invasion, and six months after the deployment of a large British force, have told The Independent that the sheer ferocity of the fighting in the Sangin valley, and privations faced by the troops, are far worse than generally known.

"We are flattening places we have already flattened, but the attacks have kept coming. We have killed them by the dozens, but more keep coming, either locally or from across the border," one said. "We have used B1 bombers, Harriers, F16s and Mirage 2000s. We have dropped 500lb, 1,000lb and even 2,000lb bombs. At one point our Apaches [helicopter gunships] ran out of missiles they have fired so many. Almost any movement on the ground gets ambushed. We need an entire battle group to move things. Yet they will not give us the helicopters we have been asking for.

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You see where I'm going here, right? We're fighting two Vietnams at once, people. Our troops on the ground are under-equipped and over-deployed and the military is breaking, all because no one planned anything past sending them in.

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He continued: "We did not expect the ferocity of the engagements. We also expected the Taliban to carry out hit and run raids. Instead we have often been fighting toe to toe, endless close-quarters combat. It has been exhausting. I remember when we had to extract a Danish recce [Brit for 'reconnaissance'] group which was getting attacked on all sides; it was bedlam. We have greater firepower, so we tend to win, but, of course, they can take their losses while our casualties will invariably lead to concern back home.You also have to think that each time we kill one, how many more enemies we are creating. And, of course, the lack of security means hardly any reconstruction is taking place now, so we are not exactly winning hearts and minds."

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Did anybody call over to Moscow and ask about the problems they had in that God-forsaken country? Nah, not Rummy's style, he knows everything already. And the Brits should know better.

*Big tip o' the Brain to Dr. Attaturk for the Independent link.