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British forces' century of unbroken warfare set to end with Afghanistan exit

11 February 2014

The departure of British military forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 will end 13 years of aggressive interference in the country.

This article charts an (annual) timeline of ‘constant combat’, beginning with “Britain’s declaration of war against Germany in August 1914” noting that not “a year has passed without its forces being involved in conflict”, something “no other country, even those with similar militaristic traditions, has been engaged [in] continuously over such a long span.”

The withdrawal from Afghanistan is, according to the authors, anticipated by Britain’s generals and politicians as a “strategic pause” in this total war, and senior military staff are “planning accordingly”.

The authors’ predict a “potential absence of war”, due to a lack of public support, antipathy to further invasions of Muslim countries by a multicultural Britain and budget cuts to a shrinking British force.

They contrast this scenario with the recent situation in France, “which has been enthusiastically mounting expeditions in Africa”, the authors even detect a lack of enthusiasm for intervention by British troops among the military and politicians, although the justification of “long range support of oppressed people” apparently remains on the table.

See: British forces' century of unbroken warfare set to end with Afghanistan exit (The Guardian)