Cartoon: What Am I Doing Here?

This cartoon by Schrank from The Independent on Sunday is a comment on the continuing presence of British troops in Afghanistan. Six British soldiers were killed last week when their armoured vehicle was blown up by a Taliban bomb. This was the single worst enemy attack on UK troops in Afghanistan since operations began 11 years ago, and brings the British death toll to 404. This latest atrocity has led to much soul-searching over the reasons for British troops being in Afghanistan, as well as questions about the timetable for their withdrawal and the ability of Afghan forces to keep the country secure once coalition troops leave in 2014.

The cartoon shows a British soldier asking, "What am I doing here?", an Afghan man asking, "What is he still doing here," and an Afghan woman with her daughter asking, "What will we do when he's gone?" The cartoonist seems to be saying that, although the Afghan people won't be sorry to see the coalition troops leave, things will get a lot worse for women when they eventually do, and, as seems increasingly likely, the country reverts to Taliban rule.

ALSO SEE

• Leading article: Afghanistan - enough is enough (Independent on Sunday)

• Leading article: The end of the Afghan war must be accelerated (The Independent)

• In Afghanistan it's lies that are really killing our soldiers (The Guardian)

• 6 UK troops killed in Afghanistan explosion (Associated Press)

• Afghanistan: Ten deaths that tell the story of a futile war (The Independent on Sunday)

By : tatank,