On 23 April 2006, Foreign Secretary John Reid committed British troops to Helmand Province for the first time. At a press conference in Kabul he declared: “We’re in the south to help and protect the Afghan people to reconstruct their economy and democracy. We would be perfectly happy to leave in three years time without firing one shot.”

10 years later I’ve chosen the same date to launch SPIN ZHIRA on Amazon Kindle. I’m sure there will be much speculation about what was achieved in Helmand and at what cost.

I hope my own personal account will add to the debate.