Betrayal of heroes like my brave pal...
WHO CAN forget where they were when news of 9/11 reached us? It was the worst terror attack on US soil in history, killing nearly 3,000 civilians. The images of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers collapsing became synonymous with a nation’s grief and outrage, while the attack itself precipitated nearly two decades of foreign conflicts.
The 20th anniversary yesterday has been a reminder of why the West began its “War On Terror” by bombing Afghanistan. Al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, had claimed responsibility for the attacks and was thought to be hiding out in the country’s network of mountain tunnels.
It became America’s longest war – and of course, we lent our support. It began with Operation Veritas, as we assisted the American invasion of Afghanistan and was soon followed by Operation Herrick – which ran for 12 years at a cost of at least an estimated £22.2billion.
British fatalities and serious casualties peaked in 2009-2010. Among them was Lieutenant Douglas Dalzell of 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards. I didn’t know Dougie well. He was a friend of friends; a familiar smiling face on happy nights out. I got to know him just enough to know why he became such an exemplary officer.
He died on his 27th birthday from wounds he received days earlier from an explosion in central Helmand, leaving his family bereft and many of my close friends devastated.
At the time, as a BBC journalist, I had already reported from Royal Wootton Bassett on far too many military repatriations of our war dead. But Dougie’s repatriation was like no other to me; his death forever after made the issue of Afghanistan and the War On Terror something personal. This dusty, distant conflict had hit home.
Dougie was posthumously awarded one of Britain’s highest honours – the Military Cross – in recognition of his exemplary gallantry during operations in Helmand Province.
The Dougie Dalzell Memorial Trust, set up in his memory, has spent the past decade raising close to £1million, supporting countless injured men and women and their families. It has helped to create meaning from his sacrifice.
However, memories of his death have come flooding back in recent weeks. Friends have privately expressed real shock and anger at thewest’s chaotic withdrawal and have also questioned the Prime Minister’s assertion that the 457 deaths and 616 serious or very serious casualties in Aghanistan “were not in vain”.
It is now clear we have ceded Afghanistan to the very terrorists that our finest gave their lives to defeat. The Taliban, which allowed Al Qaeda to thrive and refused to hand over bin Laden, has unveiled its government of battle-hardened fighters, military commanders and former Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
Will this betrayal be the true legacy of 9/11? Regrettably, I fear so.
●You can catch Isabel on The Great British Breakfast on weekends at 6-9am on GB News.