17 August 2009
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From the Editor…
Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly
Cover story
The fog of war
In 2001, British troops marched into Afghanistan on a mission to combat al-Qaeda and topple the Taliban. Eight years and thousands of ruined lives later, they remain mired in conflict, with no sign of a way out. What are our soldiers fighting and dying for? How long will they stay?
Features
How not to end a war
Mikhail Gorbachev called Afghanistan “our bleeding wound”. Why hasn’t Nato learned from the Soviet Union’s mistakes?
‘‘I became hooked’’
After four years reporting the war, Andrea Busfield decided to move to Kabul. In this magical, modernising city, she made friends for life
Interview
The NS interview: Ed Butler
The retired brigadier, original mastermind of Britain's strategy for fighting the Taliban, now believes "we go long, we go deep or we go home"
“No one is safe there now”
Henry Sands talks to a Welsh Guards captain following a bloody tour of duty in Helmand
Regulars
New Statesman Leader
Our military presence in Afghanistan is part of the problem, not the solution
Britain should follow Canada's lead and set a date for withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is time we accepted that we are losing this war.
First Thoughts
Never work for a liberal boss
. . . on MPs’ wages, Sunday newspapers and being too soft on oldies
The Politics Column
The struggle for survival
Whitehall needs a new Securities Department that will deal with the growing threats beyond terrorism
Down & Out in London
Down and out in London
After a series of grill-related catastrophes, I go to buy a toaster in John Lewis. It is a strangely moving experience
Culture
Look back in anger
Fifteen years ago, a teenage Jude Rogers was enchanted by a new pop sound and a new politics, both of which promised to change the way we think about Britain. Neither, she now reflects, was quite what it seemed
Leave the past behind
The campaigns to restore lost architectural gems signify a malaise in our culture
Garden and Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur
A strange and shocking Indian movement is brought back to life
Television
Louis Theroux: the City Addicted to Crystal Meth
After so many years as a documentary-maker, can Theroux really be this naive?
Radio
A Sunday lie-in with Uncle Dave
David Attenborough is a perfect successor to the late, great Alistair Cooke
Books
War Without Fronts: the USA in Vietnam
The rape, torture and murder of Vietnamese civilians went on before and after the My Lai massacre. The “real” war criminals are those who allowed it to continue
Observations
Farmers are still hungry for change
Reviving UK food production is impossible without undoing policies and laws hostile to producers
The west muscles in
The coverage of the US journalists released from North Korea ignored the fact they knowingly broke the law
