WHATEVER the rights and wrongs of recent military action in Afghanistan, we are glad that in its aftermath 1,600 British troops are now in the country working at the only really effective defence against terrorism: peacekeeping and 'nation-building'.

But we are alarmed to hear of the Government's 'open-ended' commitment of 1,700 fresh troops to military operations in Afghanistan under US command. Operation Anaconda has been claimed a success, but with little evidence - and seven US dead.

There is still less evidence that killing people in Afghanistan is going to reduce the capacity or the appetite for terrorism world-wide. It is more likely to intensify anti-Western feeling and, above all, to compromise the work of the other British soldiers already engaged in peacekeeping.

This is not to question the unrivalled skills or courage of the UK forces. Indeed, the US has requested them because they are better trained for this job than American soldiers. But we must not forget their other great attraction for the US Government. It is far more likely to maintain support at home for its world-wide military adventures so long as the body-bags that return contain foreign rather than American dead.

John Heawood,

York Against the War,

Eastward Avenue,

Fulford,

York.

Updated: 10:44 Wednesday, April 03, 2002