In an interview on The Khyber Pass

Your brother, the former army officer Leo Docherty, is the author of Desert of Death, as well as a linguist and explorer. He recounts events witnessed from the frontline of the war in Afghanistan and his perspective is often critical. Does this book help to explain why the British Government is itself coming under fire for not properly equipping its troops?

Well, what this book does is give a very compelling view of life on the ground as a soldier in Afghanistan. Leo doesn’t try to look at high-level strategies – he is basically telling his own story. But the disillusionment he felt is one of the main things that comes across in the course of the book. He became increasingly dissatisfied about the way the war was being conducted.

In his book, Leo describes how a friend of his was killed in action – was this a pivotal moment for the change in his attitude towards the war?

Yes, he had been sharing a tent with his friend, Captain Jim Philippson, who was shot in the head in Sangin. I am sure that his death contributed to Leo’s change of feeling. But the main reason for it was the number of Afghans that were dying. We had said that we wouldn’t have the “collateral damage” that the Americans had typically experienced, but we ended up doing something pretty similar.

Were there other aspects of the war he felt dissatisfied with?

Leo said that when he visited towns in Helmand, people would ask what they were doing there (this was of course, during the time when the British could still patrol towns and talk to people). Leo would tell them that the British Army didn’t want them to grow poppies, but that they would have an alternative means of income. But when the Afghans asked Leo what that alternative was, he didn’t have an answer because the army hadn’t been told. That element hadn’t been provided for, and it disappointed him.

So he decided to leave Afghanistan?

Yes. He resigned in disgust over the conduct of the war, and in particular, the accidental killing of civilians.