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July 16, 2009

Afghanistan: On The Rise

Wootton Bassett.jpg

If this photo of a mass funeral convoy passing through the town of Wootten Basset doesn’t end up marking a turning point in English popular opposition to the Afghan war (the Brits lost these 8 soldiers in a 24-hour period last week), it has certainly ratcheted up the tension over the Afghan”investment.” The angle of the Getty photo not only captures the entire procession, it also suggests how the death toll is on an upward path with no end in sight.

And then, with American casualties also increasing as the result of the U.S. escalation, I can’t tell if this kind of imagery — amidst the noise of ultimately uneventful happenings like the the Sotomayor hearings or the G-8 summit — has a better or a worse chance of capturing domestic attention.

(image: Carl de Souza/Getty Images. Wiltshire, England. July 14, 2009)

  • Mike

    Sorry to be pedantic but that should be ‘British popular opposition’, not ‘English’- they’re two different things.

  • jtfromBC

    The Royal Lads want to have a go – video 2:00 min.
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6529433.ece
    Prince Harry to Afghanistan in an Apache helicopter.
    http://blog.taragana.com/n/prince-harry-celebrates-helicopter-pilots-licence-with-boozy-night-51287/

  • http://profile.typepad.com/6p01156faddbfa970c Diggitt

    How on earth did one little town lose eight soldiers? I thought that after the carnage of WW1, British military units were no longer formed from geographic or municipal units.

  • jtfromBC

    This article indicates these soldiers are not from this little town
    ‘Residents of Wootton Bassett, in Wiltshire, have been gathering to honour the fallen for the past two years as the hearses carrying soldiers’ caskets pass through the town on their final journey home after arriving at a nearby air force base.
    Just as with Canada’s “Highway of Heroes,” the turnout at the impromptu ceremonies at Wootton Bassett began with a small, spontaneous gathering of people, but keeps growing.’
    http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/14/britain-fallen-soldiers071409.html