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April 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda <!–
Retired Major General Alan Stretton is contesting the Prime Minister’s assessment of Australia’s role in Afghanistan, saying the deaths of the 32 Australians there have been in vain.
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ELEANOR HALL: A retired Major General is contesting the Prime Minister’s assessment of Australia’s role in Afghanistan, saying the deaths of the 32 Australians there have been in vain.
Major General Alan Stretton, a former Australian of the Year and army leader during the Vietnam War, says the war has achieved nothing and that Australian troops should have been brought home long ago.
From Canberra Samantha Hawley reports.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Ten years on Afghanistan is far from stable.
This week has seen the biggest coordinated militant attacks on Kabul since the war began.
Talking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the Afghan president Hamid Karzai has blamed NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) intelligence failures.
HAMID KARZAI: This is indicative of serious intelligence failure, especially an intelligence failure of our allies and NATO and others because of the equipment that they have, because of the resources that they have, because of the time that they’ve spent in this part of the world.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Back home and Australia now has an exit strategy.
The Prime Minister’s outlined a timetable to have most Australian troops out of Afghanistan by the end of next year, a year earlier than anticipated.
Some SAS troops will remain there and Julia Gillard’s committed Australia to long term financial assistance.
Retired Major General Alan Stretton, an army chief of staff during the Vietnam War, says the Australian troops should have been brought home years ago.
ALAN STRETTON: Our original objective was to find and either kill or capture bin Laden. Well if that objective has been successful, what the hell are we doing there now? I support retired General Cantwell who questions whether the Australian mission in Afghanistan has been worth the loss of Australian lives.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: So you think the lives lost and the injuries sustained have been in vain?
ALAN STRETTON: Yes I do. I don’t think they’ve been justified at all. And leaving them there after we’ve achieved our objective just doesn’t seem right in my view.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: There must be nothing worse for a family to hear people say that their lives were lost in vain?
ALAN STRETTON: Well, they might not like it but that’s my view of it.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Do you think nothing has been achieved?
ALAN STRETTON: No, what has been achieved? I mean the Afghan Army, which we’re supposed to be training is infiltrated by the Taliban. We’ve seen them even opening fire on parade and killing Australian troops. And further I don’t think we are winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.
ELEANOR HALL: That’s Major General Alan Stretton ending Samantha Hawley’s report.
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