The enormous naval deployment in the Persian Gulf, coupled with the deluge of leaks and rumours about a pre-emptive strike by Israeli forces on Iran, has perhaps diverted attention from the war in Afghanistan until the events of this weekend. The attack on Camp Bastion by 15 Taliban fighters masquerading as US troops, which killed 2 American marines and destroyed or damaged considerable materiel and installations, has captured headlines over the weekend, not least because the Taliban claimed that their primary target was Prince Harry.
One possible response to the Taliban’s propaganda gambit is to point out that they failed in their alleged objective. Spokesmen for the British Army, which built Bastion, reject that assassinating the prince was the Taliban’s true aim of this carefully planned and well laid attack. But ISAF has forced to conduct a full security review into how such a raid could have taken place: Bastion is often referred to as ‘impregnable’.
There has been tragedy away from Bastion, too.
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