Veterans’ pride in their service in Afghanistan is not diminished

THE desperate and dangerous operation to evacuate as many UK citizens and at-risk Afghans as possible from Kabul is drawing to a bloody and chaotic close. And as it does so, the charity Help for Heroes is reporting an upsurge in military veterans suffering mental trauma as a result of what is going on in the country they fought to try and save.

So the campaign to bolster the morale of those veterans, reported in today’s Western Morning News, is well-timed. Backed by celebrities and given a powerful message of support from MP Johnny Mercer yesterday, the message is clear – those servicemen and women are still heroes, whatever is happening now in Afghanistan.

Many commentators, some who never strayed far from the comfort of their armchairs while others fought and died in Afghanistan, have seen the crisis of withdrawal as a reason to undermine the achievements of our armed forces.

It’s true that no one would have wanted to see 20 years of hard work and the deaths of many UK, US and Afghan soldiers end in the way that it has. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the government now overthrown in Afghanistan, must take responsibility for that. An inquiry will, in due course, conclude what went wrong and where the blame lies.

But it most definitely does not lie with the brave servicemen and women who were sent to Afghanistan, many of whom did not come home. And as Mr Mercer said yesterday, in a video message posted on Twitter, those veterans who served should still feel proud.

The MP for Plymouth Moor View knows what he is talking about. As a captain in 29th Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery he served in Afghanistan. And as veterans minister, until his forced exit earlier this year, he spoke up for ex-service personnel, many of whom remain physically and mentally scarred by their experiences.

But as he said: “I think the moments – and they were far too brief – of peace and security that we brought to communities in Now Zad, in Nad-E Ali and Laskkah Gah, in Kajaki, and places like that, the people who experienced that will never forget it and you can be so proud of operating in such a difficult environment against an enemy that was horrific and barbaric and brutalised the local population.”

We are all quick to judge the success or failure of any operation. And it is certainly true that the long-term objective of the US and UK led operation in Afghanistan was to prevent further terror attacks after 9-11 and create a stable nation for the Afghan people, one that they could defend and protect themselves.

On the first count, the operation can be judged to have succeeded. Thus far – and we should never be complacent – large-scale terror attacks have been thwarted here in the West. On the second count, things have not worked out. But that does not lessen the courage or the sacrifice of the service personnel on the ground. Under the hashtag #StillOurHeroes, supporters of the UK Armed Forces and veterans are saying just that. Those who served have every reason to feel continuing pride in their efforts.