BRITAIN has now lost more than 300 men or women of our armed forces since going to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan; but have we learnt anything from this terrible needless loss of life? If, heaven forbid, we get involved with military action against Iran, will we make the same mistakes as in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Surely it must now be obvious to our political leaders that we cannot defeat such enemies by conventional war methods only. We must have a definite objective and a certain exit strategy, and we must go in on day one with enough troops, top quality equipment, allied backup and political will, to win early. We must not announce in advance when we intend to pull out. The Taliban in Afghanistan now need only to bide their time and wait until 2015, and then repossess what they have temporarily lost, and the Afghan Government forces must equally realise that their defeat and overthrow is certain. War is not the answer.
David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.
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