The post you are reporting:
I have never served in the armed forces so I will put that on table before I start but I had a brother who did serve in NI doing 4 tours from 1968 onwards which led to his early demise aged 42 yrs. I'm not sure if anyone else on the forum has shot a gun in anger/war but he did so by proxy I feel able to express my opinion.
Secondly a very good friend,an Ambassador in the Dip Service who gave up his post to head the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) in Iraq and then in Afghanistan in the winter years of his career not for the money or because he was required to do so but because he wanted to make a difference to the brutal regimes.
We pass this way but once and therefore some of us feel that in some small way we should or can make a contribution.
AlexD & JimmyL
Whether we should be in the Middle East is is neither here nor there ,we are and we have to accept the decision of our democratically elected rulers whether we like it or not. We are not the Ruskies nor do we employ their tactics so it's pointless referring to them as some sort of benchmark.
The three main problems,as I see it , in Afghanistan are
(1) terrorism-its camps ,support and arms trade through Kashmir
(2) Its heroin production - which not only supplies it with vasts sums of money to support its arms trade but is purposely used to destroy the youth of our and other countries and finally
(3) the religious and democratic suppression of its people - especially women.
In my limited opinion that seems and appears worth fighting for, I may be mistaken but I fully support our troops and although I sincerely mourn the loss of life but if put into the melting pot of wars then what about the millions that died in the trenches of WW1 and the millions of civilians killed in WW2 not to mention the troops who's remains lie scattered around the globe,Korea,Vietnam, Falklands et al
The only way to 'win' the war, if that's the correct terminology,is to win the hearts and minds of the Afghans and give them what we take for granted which is Freedom not only of speech but in Democracy and the right of all adults male and female to vote and finally a choice of religion or not they wish to chose to follow.
Bob was right the war will be lost in the bars and at dinner parties and by power hungry politicians clamouring for your vote at the next election paying lip service to your calls of 'bring our boys back home' in order to gain your vote. I call that retreating and giving up before the task is completed.Others may differ.