I admire the Afghan service of Doug Beattie, who knows the suffering of war — but wars have always been with us

The former Royal Irish Captain Doug Beattie MC speaks from painful experience of his three tours in Afghanistan (‘Without prompt action our sacrifices in Afghanistan will all be for nothing,’ August 4, see link below).

He knows only too well the human suffering caused by war and how politicians with no military experience can give their generals often impossible tasks.

We live in a world of geo-politics.

The empire building of mainly 19th Century European nations led to the arbitrary drawing of lines on maps which separated ethnic and tribal groups. The imposition of the concept of the European nation-state in the Middle East and Africa within unnatural boundaries is the cause of much political instability today.

Boots on the ground in Afghanistan have (or are) being withdrawn by most participating countries in the conflict. Air strikes on the Taliban are being sent from command centres thousands of miles away.

China and Russia are expanding the blue water capabilities of their navies and using cyber attacks on governments throughout the world. Space has become a theatre of war.

Communist China is the new neo-colonialist power in Africa from where it obtains one third of its oil.

In return for grandiose infrastructure projects it extracts increasing amounts of cobalt, copper, manganese and rare minerals to meet the demands of its domestic industries.

I admire Doug Beattie, pictured in Helmand, for his service in Afghanistan and elsewhere. His motivations and those with whom he served were honourable and just.

Wars have always been with us and the Spanish philosopher, George Santayana, inferred that the constancy of war is part of our human condition when he said: ‘War is only over for the dead.’

George McNally, Londonderry

Without prompt action all the sacrifices will have been for nothing, says UUP leader Doug Beattie

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry

Acting Editor