The retreat from Kabul
Britain had sought to protect its Indian borders from the advances of the Russian Empire by creating regime change in Afghanistan. The king, Dost Mohammad, was replaced by a puppet ruler and all went well for a time until the new king’s excesses excited the local tribes to rebellion.
The British were led by General Elphinstone who was endowed with equal measures of incompetence, irresolution and cowardice. The elderly Elphinstone, dragged down by gout and looking forward to a quiet retirement, determined to quit Kabul with the assurances of safe passage through the Afghan passes; on the 6th January, British and Indian troops, wives, children, nannies, grooms, cooks, servants, 16,000 in all, set out through the snow towards the first of the passes. The safe passage was only to hell; continuous skirmishing and treachery ended up with the surviving men of the 44th Regiment of Foot being slaughtered to a man at the village of Gandamak, less than 30 miles from their destination at Jalalabad.
Dr. William Brydon, the only known survivor of the 16,000 who left Kabul, reached Jalalabad on the 13th January 1842 to break the news of the disaster which had overtaken Elphinstone’s army. This incident became the subject of one of the most celebrated paintings of Victorian times – Lady Butler’s “Remnants of an Army”. So ended an Afghan war and subsequent Afghan wars enjoyed no greater enduring success.
As our armed services complete their departure from Helmand province we must be grateful that the stakes were no greater. This withdrawal has taken slightly longer than predicted by the Labour Minister of Defence, Dr John Reid, when he first announced the troop movements to Afghanistan. He opined that the army would be withdrawn within three years without firing a shot!
Our political masters seem to be discussing increased military presence in the Middle East at a time when the European Union are demanding increased contributions of £1.7 billion due to the increase in the size of our gross national income, arising from drug dealing and prostitution. The budget deficit is over £100 billion this year and our national debt is in excess of £1 trillion.
I enclose the tax tables for the tax year 2014-15 and all of this madness leads me to think that taxes, from this point, are most likely to increase because there is no one else to pay for these bizarre excesses. Investment income can still be generated tax free.