Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Defence

But in reality we have not tested the military advice. People have been told that when General McChrystal arrived, he said, "Will somebody tell me what we're doing in Helmand?" From a military point of view, we have to be realistic: there are things that we can do, and things that we cannot. It is not just politics that is the art of the possible. Helmand is not winnable in the military sense, and the sooner we realise that, the better. We can then focus special forces on getting the bandits and the people who are undermining things. We should do that, rather than spread our resources, with enormous loss of life and maiming, given that we are talking about something that cannot be won.