It was clear the war was all about control of the oil and drugs out there
By Rosie Dunn
Mums of soldiers killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan want a public inquiry into the 20-year war, saying it was based on a bed of lies.
As Taliban insurgents reclaim Kabul, the heartbroken mothers believe their sons died for nothing and that no British soldier should set foot there again.
Sunday was the 12th anniversary of the deaths of two of our Afghanistan heroes – Sergeant Simon Valentine of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and Private Richard Hunt of 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh.
In an open letter to Boris Johnson, the mums call for successive governments to be held to account for the tragic toll.
Helen’s son L/Cpl Michael Pritchard was 22 when he was killed in Sangin, Helmand, on December 20, 2009.
He was serving with the 4th Regiment, Royal Military Police when he was shot dead after being mistaken for one of the enemy.
Helen said: “My life is one big mix of profound anger and sorrow made worse because the Ministry of Defence (MoD) lied to my face. They wouldn’t tell me the truth. I found out by accident from an Army padre Michael had been mistaken for an insurgent and shot by a British sniper.
“So much has been covered up to conceal blunders and mistakes.
“Soldiers have been forced to lie in inquests on the orders of their superiors. The corruption within the MoD system runs so deep.
“Bereaved families are seen as collateral damage undeserving of the truth.”
Carol’s son Sgt. Simon Valentine was 29 when he was killed on August 15, 2009, trying to clear landmines on foot patrol near Sangin, Helmand Province.
Simon served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and was a born leader, loved by all.
Carol said: “My life changed forever the day my son was killed, the grief eats you up daily and consumes you.
“I rarely sleep now, worrying if anything bad is going to happen to my other children and grandchildren. I was once a happy-go-lucky person.
“He said it was clear it was all about control of the oil and drugs out there. He died for nothing, and it destroyed my life.”
Caroline’s son Sergeant Gareth Thursby was serving with the 3rd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, when he was shot dead by an Afghan policeman at a checkpoint in Helmand Province on September 15, 2012.
She said: “Our sons were sent to war on a bed of lies and 20 years on we are back to square one with the Taliban in control.
“It breaks me apart and enrages me that our soldiers’ lives were treated so flippantly, and I will never recover from losing Gareth.
“The bereaved mums are now all part of a club none of us want membership of but at least we have each other.
“On the days I can’t hold it together, they pick me up and I do the same for them when they fall.
“There are no words needed between us. We all share the same pain.”
Hazel’s son Pte Richard Hunt, of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh Regiment, was fatally wounded by an explosion while on patrol in Musah Qaleh, Helmand.
The 21-year-old died two days later on August 15, 2009.
Hazel said: “The families left behind from this dreadful war are stuck in a life sentence of grief.
“I am so tired of the lies and political jargon used to justify the losses of our men and women.
“Our soldiers were lambs to the slaughter and the politicians who sent them to Afghanistan are as much responsible as those who laid the mines and bombs.
“If it had achieved something we could at least say our boys didn’t die in vain. But their sacrifices have been for nothing.
“I will never forgive the politicians who used our sons as discardable cannon fodder.”
L/Cpl. Jake Alderton, 22, was serving with the 36 Engineer Regiment when he was killed in Sangin, Helmand Province, on November 9, 2007.
The vehicle he was travelling in dropped off a bridge in a night-time operation and he died of asphyxiation and drowning.
Mum Lesley said: “My son died because he was sent to war with inadequate equipment.
“That was even the verdict of the coroner at his inquest. The troop’s night vision goggles were not up to the job which effectively meant the driver had to drive blind.
“My family was destroyed. My 40-year marriage collapsed, my eldest son and I had breakdowns.
“Some days I can barely hold myself up and I suffer terrible flashbacks of my son’s dying moments. It’s left me with PTSD and panic and anxiety disorders.”
Caroline’s 21-year-old son Trooper James Munday was serving with the Household Cavalry Regiment when he was killed in an explosion while driving a Jackal vehicle in Helmand Province on October 15, 2008.
She said: “I have had amazing ongoing support from my son’s regiment but I’ve never been able to grieve my son properly.
“I have dreams of when he is a baby. I’m trying to hold him to me, but he keeps slipping out of my arms, drifting away from me.
“I had fight in me at first and then heartbreak sets in that never leaves.
“Five years in, my body gave up like an old feather mattress – springs bursting out everywhere and feathers scattering all around.
“I finally have an interview with a psychiatrist after having suicidal thoughts and self-harming.”
Fallen soldiers’ mums’ open letter to Boris Johnson
Dear Mr. Johnson,
There are 457 reasons why no British soldier should ever be sent to fight in Afghanistan again.
That is the number of heroic fallen soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, fighting for their country.
It’s a horrific death toll that doesn’t include the thousands who returned catastrophically injured, physically and mentally, and the growing suicide count.
Now we have left the hellhole of Afghanistan and the Taliban are taking over. Again.
What was the point in our boys giving their lives in a war we should never have been in? For our dead children and the bereaved families left behind, it has been a monumental and heartbreaking waste.
Now we believe our boys are owed a debt for their sacrifice, with an inquiry that holds every politician that sent us to war accountable – starting with the worst culprit Tony Blair.
Would he have sent his own son to fight on the front line? We think not.
He should be made to walk through a field of IEDS and feel the lottery of death our troops faced every day.
He and his cronies treated our military like pawns on a chessboard while back home it became a breeding ground for terrorism.
We were told the war was to clear out Al-Qaeda, keep terror from British streets and bring peace and stability to the Afghan people, but it failed.
If anything, all we did was poke the hornet’s nest and stir up hatred against us.
The invasion brought bloodshed to our streets –the opposite of what politicians said they were trying to prevent.
Britain is now more dangerous and volatile than ever.
Yet we are back to square one as the Taliban stand poised to rule again, compounding our heartache, and making a mockery of our sons’ sacrifice.
We believe that our country, our troops, and the bereaved families of the fallen have all been lied to, repeatedly. As bereaved mums we remain proud of our son’s bravery.
But we learned the hard way that war is about money and power – anybody who tells you otherwise is either in on it or is stupid.
This was always about profit and control, like every other war.
That is why we urge you to open a public inquiry, as we did with Iraq, to stand any chance of uncovering at least some of the truth.
We want to know who gained from this corrupt war and why our soldiers were sent into battle ill equipped and with kit not fit for purpose. So many blunders directly contributed to soldiers’ deaths, leaving just as much blood on the hands of our leaders as the Taliban.
The former head of the Army, Gen Lord Dannatt, has also called for an inquiry to spotlight the errors of the conflict. We back him entirely.
It’s a double heartbreak for us to be back where we started 20 years on.
The Taliban have done exactly as they said – sit out the invasion and wait for us to leave before returning. You may not have sent our boys to war, but as our Prime Minister, you owe us the truth.
What was it all for?
The families of our dead soldiers were lied to repeatedly by the MoD trying to cover up their secrets and failings.
We have long been thrown on a scrapheap and no longer know who we can trust.
The phoney rhetoric of past leaders has left us in despair.
Every politician that sanctioned Afghanistan owes us and we want reassurance not a single British soldier will ever be deployed to this godforsaken place again.
History has shown that it is too high a price to pay.
We know war is a dirty business but if you are going to play Russian roulette with our children’s lives, at least have the decency to give us the truth.
It’s the very least our murdered sons and their families deserve.
To honour the fallen, we must respect the living and we call on you as our Prime Minister to show you care with a public inquiry.
Yours sincerely,
Carol Valentine, Helen Perry, Hazel Hunt, Caroline Whitaker, Caroline Jane Munday-Baker and Lesley Alderton
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Courtesy: Mirror, London
