A Million Bullets: The Real Story Of The British Army In Afghanistan

Product Description

In April 2006 a small British peace-keeping force was sent to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. Within weeks they were cut off & besieged by some of the world`s toughest fighters: the infamous Taliban, who were determined to send the foreigners home again. Defence Secretary John Reid had hoped that Operation Herrick 4 could be accomplished without a shot being fired; instead, the Army was drawn into the fiercest fighting it had seen for fifty years. Millions of bullets & thousands of lives have been expended since then in an under-publicized but bitter conflict whose end is still not in sight. Some people consider it the fourth Anglo-Afghan War since Victorian times. How on earth did this happen? & what is it like for the troops on the front line of the ` War on Terror`? James Fergusson takes us to the dark heart of the battle zone. Here, in their own words & for the first time, are the young veterans of Herrick 4. Here, unmasked, are the civilian & military officials responsible for planning & executing the operation. Here, too, are the Taliban themselves, to whom Fergusson gained unique & extraordinary access. Controversial, fascinating & occasionally downright terrifying, ”A Million Bullets” analyses the sorry slide into war in Helmand & asks this most troubling question: could Britain perhaps have avoided the violence altogether?