British troops in Mali

sir – Your report (July 29) on British troops preparing for peacekeeping in Mali fills me with concern and feelings of déjà vu. We learnt the hard way in Bosnia what was meant by “peacekeeping” when there was plainly no peace to keep.

You describe the United Nations operation in Mali as “the new front line in the war against jihadist extremism”. War and peacekeeping are fundamentally different. You also describe the mission as “the most dangerous in the world”, with more than 200 UN troops having been killed to date. This does not sound like peacekeeping to me.

The Commanding Officer of the Light Dragoons is quoted as saying: “We’re not looking to hunt down violent extremists. We’re on a peacekeeping mission.” We then read that British troops will fill a reconnaissance role, “pushing deep into ungoverned territory, operating for weeks at a time in excess of 300km from their home base”. They will doubtless receive a warm reception from al-qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

I hope we understand the difference between peacekeeping, peace enforcement and war fighting, and have the casualty evacuation procedures sorted out – and, importantly, the appropriate rules of engagement, as these troops’ opponents will have none.

I also hope their Ministry of Defence masters have first addressed the fundamental question: are we prepared to fight and, if necessary, escalate to success? If they have not, or the answer is no, we should not be sending British troops on such a mission.

Major General Andrew Pringle (retd) Commander of British forces in Bosnia, 1995

Brighton, East Sussex