Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
Once again the old "hardy annual" of the lack of continuity among Brit (and also US) troops leads to a lack of expertise in not only this aspect - being the understanding of Afghan culture - but all aspects of military operations in the Afghanistan theatre that contributes to the overall crisis.
As always I totally agree militarily and practically but still cite the political infeasibility of longer tours for both nations. In both nations, the domestic political desirability will always outweigh the military optimum unless there is an existential issue. In Afghanistan (and Iraq) there was no such issue.

Both Armies knew all that so they accepted the rules. That excuses neither Army for not doing a better job of training or placing rotations to maximize the capability attainable. Both could have done a far better job at that but Gurkha's comment about "inflated opinions" allied with super egos interfered...