HOPEFULLY, the closing down of Camp Bastion in Afghanistan and the return of the last troops deployed there will be the last time our forces are sent on yet a politically motivated operation.

Defence Secretary John Reid said, at the start of the Afghan War, and referring to our soldiers: “I hope they will come home without a shot being fired.”

Some hope: 453 military personnel were killed in the conflict and for what? There is a good chance, now our troops have departed, that the Taliban will resume control of Afghanistan.

History is littered with many defeats suffered by countries thinking they could subdue the Afghans.

All British Governments seem hell-bent on reducing our armed forces owing to the high costs involved in keeping them at full strength. Because of these reductions, Britain is rapidly losing its status as a world power.

These reduced forces should be used for our defence and not for fighting wars which have little or nothing to do with Britain.

Philip Roe, Roman Avenue South, Stamford Bridge, York.