Tentera British tiba di Kandahar pangkalan udara
pada akhir operasi bagi Marin Amerika Syarikat dan pasukan tempur British di
Helmand 27 Oktober 2014 (British soldiers arrive at Kandahar air base at the
end of operations for U.S. Marines and British combat troops in Helmand October
27, 2014 (Reuters/Omar Sobhani)
niZAh - Sebagai baki pasukan
terakhir Britain berangkat dari Afghanistan, tin-jauan pendapat menunjukkan 68 %
peratus rakyat Britain berfikir kempen keten-teraan di UK di rantau ini adalah tidak "bernilai."
42 % peratus lagi fikir Britain adalah "kurang
selamat" sebagai akibat dari perang.
Kajian
yang dijalankan oleh BBC, dilakukan di antara 24 Oktober dan 26 sebagai
kehadiran tentera Britain di Afghanistan datang ke penghujungnya.
Operasi
tempur United Kingdom tlh ditamatkan pd hari Ahad sebagai asas utama
tentera United Kingdom, Kem Bastion, telah diserahkan kpd pejabat
Afghanistan. Tentera Amerika dari Kem Leatherneck sebelumnya yg dikuasai juga
tlh berangkat dari tanah Afghanistan, meninggalkan pasukan Afghani
mengendalikan laman ini.
Jajak
pendapat telefon mendedahkan hanya 14 % peratus dpd mereka yg ditinjau
merasakan Britain adalah lebih selamat sebagai akibat dari campur tangan
tentera Inggeris di Afghanistan, yang pertama kali dimulai pad tahun 2001.
Campur tangan itu kononnya bertujuan utk menawarkan bantuan kpd Amerika Syarikat
di tengah serangan-9/11.
68
percent of Brits say Afghan war was futile - poll
As
Britain’s last remaining troops depart from Afghanistan, a poll indicates 68
percent of Britons think the UK’s military campaign in the region was not
“worthwhile.” A further 42 percent thought Britain was “less safe” as a result
of the war.
The
survey, commissioned by the BBC, was carried out between October 24 and 26 as
Britain’s military presence in Afghanistan came to a close.
UK
combat operations were terminated on Sunday as the main UK military base, Camp
Bastion, was handed over to Afghan officials. American troops from the previously
US-controlled Camp Leatherneck have also departed from Afghan soil, leaving
Afghani forces in control of the site.
The
telephone poll revealed a mere 14 percent of those surveyed felt Britain was
safer as a result of UK military intervention in Afghanistan, which first began
in 2001. The intervention was supposedly aimed at offering assistance to the US
in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
(AFP Photo/Crown Copyright/MOD 2014/Corporal
Andrew Morris)
Kira-kira
39 % peratus adalah neutral mengenai kesan potensi campur tangan Inggeris di
rantau ini, menunjukkan akan terdapat "tiada perbezaan sebenar,"
manakala 5 % peratus menolak untuk menawarkan jawapan.
Sementara
itu, 24 % peratus mendakwa campur tangan tentera United Kingdom Afghanistan yang
diberikan "lebih baik," dgn 25 % peratus amaran itu telah
diting-galkan "lebih buruk". 44 % peratus yang berkata penyebaran pasukan
Inggeris membuat perbezaan sedikit.
Mengenai
persoalan bagaimana Afghanistan akan tarif jika tiada anggota tentera UK, 31 % peratus
berkata mereka yakin negara itu boleh "melindungi warganya tanpa bantuan
kuasa2 Inggeris." Tetapi yg melampau 64 % peratus mengatakan mereka
tidak yakin kerajaan Afghanistan boleh berdiri sendiri.
Mewakili
momen simbolik untuk United Kingdom, penamatan perang Britain di Afghanistan
menandakan berakhirnya konflik bangsa yg paling berlarutan dlm sejarah
moden. Kempen ketenteraan dianggarkan menelan belanja pembayar cukai British
hampir £40 billion - £2,000 per isi rumah United Kingdom.
Pada
masa ini, kira2 77 pegawai polis Afghanistan dan tentera yg terbunuh
setiap minggu oleh pemberontak Taliban. Pemberontakan itu telah berlaku
walaupun lebih dari satu dekad di Amerika Syarikat dan UK penglibatan tentera
di rantau ini. Sekitar 450 tentera British kehilangan nyawa mereka dalam
perjalanan perang.
Some
39 percent were neutral on the potential effects of UK intervention on the
region, suggesting there would be “no real difference,” while 5 percent refused
to offer a response.
Meanwhile,
24 percent claimed the UK military intervention rendered Afghanistan “better
off,” with 25 percent warning it had been left “worse off.” 44 percent said the
deployment of UK troops made little difference.
On
the question of how Afghanistan would fare in the absence of UK military
personnel, 31 percent said they were confident the state could “protect its
citizens without the help of UK forces.” But an overwhelming 64 percent said
they were not confident the Afghan government could stand alone.
Representing
a symbolic moment for the UK, the termination of Britain’s war in Afghanistan
signals the end of the nation’s most protracted conflict in modern history. The
military campaign is estimated to have cost British tax payers almost £40
billion – £2,000 per UK household.
At
present, approximately 77 Afghan police officials and soldiers are killed per
week by Taliban insurgents. The insurgency has prevailed despite more than a
decade of US and UK military involvement in the region. Some 450 British troops
lost their lives in the course of the war.
(AFP Photo/Crown Copyright/MOD 2014/Corporal
Andrew Morris)
Pengeluaran
candu juga terus menuai keuntungan rekod. Sementara itu, lebih 33 % peratus
daripada sekolah2 di wilayah Helmand yg tetap tertutup di
tengah-tengah kebimbangan yang semakin meningkat untuk keselamatan pelajar.
berlaku
ketidakstabilan
Menteri
pertahanan United Kingdom Michael Fallon memberi amaran tiada jami-nan sebenar
wilayah Helmand yg bermasalah pernah akan stabil. Beliau mendak-wa,
bagaimanapun, campur tangan tentera di United Kingdom telah digagalkan Al-Qaeda
dpd membentuk dasar yang ada yg merancang serangan pengganas.
"Kami
telah memberikan Afghanistan peluang yang terbaik untuk masa depan yang lebih
selamat, terutamanya melalui pengorbanan pasukan kita sendiri dan pasukan NATO
yang lain dalam membina tentera Afghanistan," katanya.
Walaupun
lebih 4,000 pegawai keselamatan Afghanistan tewas pada tahun 2014, hanya 5
orang pegawai British kehilangan nyawa mereka di Afghanistan selama tempoh ini.
Seorang
pegawai tentera senior Afghanistan di utara Helmand memberitahu kepada ‘Times’
rantau ini masih sangat tidak stabil.
"Saya
tidak faham apabila mereka berkata misi mereka selesai," katanya.
"Keadaan ini adalah sama seperti sebelumnya. Musuh masih kuat."
Opium
production also continues to reap record profits. Meanwhile, over 33 percent of
schools in the Helmand province remain closed amid heightened fears for
students’ security.
Prevailing
instability
UK
defense secretary Michael Fallon warned there was no real guarantee the
troubled Helmand province would ever be stable. He claimed, however, the UK’s
military intervention had thwarted Al-Qaeda from forming a base there from
which to plan terrorist attacks.
“We
have given Afghanistan the best possible chance of a safer future, primarily
through the sacrifice of our own troops and other NATO troops in building up
the Afghan army,” he said.
While
over 4,000 Afghan security officials were killed in 2014, a mere five British
officers lost their lives in Afghanistan over this period.
A
senior Afghan army officer in northern Helmand told The Times the region is
still highly unstable.
“I
don’t understand when they say their mission is finished,” he said. “The
situation is the same as before. The enemy is still strong.”
