Should we send more troops?

[anotheoldgit]

Just because Blair and Co. cannot persuade our NATO Allies i.e. Germany, France etc. to send any of their troops into the firing line in Afghanistan.

Why should he send even more of our troops out? What would be the implications if we said 'if you don't want to risk your troops lives then we don't, consequently we are bringing them home' ?

[Gromit]

Depends what you think the real reason was for going to war.

If you think it was a war on terror as we were told, then you cannot really bale out until the job is done (even if the mission is unaccomplishable).

If you think it was just about regime change in Afghanistan, so 'we' could install someone who let the US build an oil pipeline through the country, then again the UK cannot really get out easily.

I think we will be there as long as the US is there, and I can't see them pulling out soon.

[kwicky]

Can you blame France and Germany not wishing to send their troops into the taleban stronghold or Helmund province. We all thought we had defeated the Taliban and troops were only going to restructure Afghanistan. The Russians were defeated there not so many years ago. The wise man with his moral halo believes its just a matter of time. Maybe 1 year, 5 years, 50 years, no matter, there is always the British taxpayer to fall back upon!

[kwicky]

Especially as we are about to take sole command of the entire region in Afghanistan. Have we been sold a pup by the US because of our early exit from the relatively peaceful area of Iraq. You can visualise the picture in 10 years time. The USA still bogged down in Iraq, and the UK bogged down in Afghanistan neither wishing to admit defeat.

[stokeace]

why dont we bring them all home forget fighting the war on terror and just sit back and wait for the next atrocity that is what the anti war campaigners want and that is what would happen if we brought the troops home.

[maxximus]

stokeace again! i tried my friend , can you not read, or you just can't be bothered. there is no war on terror don't you get it, or are you just sampling the goods your government is making billions from, from afghanistan?

[Lonnie]

I don't think we can bring our troops home, as we. along with the Americans started this whole thing,
The others France, Germany etc, were just there to fullfill what they saw as obligations to their so called Allies, and Nato, they don't need to be there.

I don't agree we should be there, but as things stand, if we pull out wholesale, it would be seen as a major defeat by the Islamic forces/insurgents, and as a result, Iraq would become ten times worse than it is.

I believe that we have to win in Afghanistan even more than in Iraq.

[stokeace]

maxximus we cross swords again lol its you my friend who does not understand the politics of why we are in iraq and afghanistan do you?you are being brainwashed by the anti war brigade do you want another 9/11 or 7/7 but this time on a grander scale?so those 2 horrific events were figments of peoples imagination were they?of course there is a war on terror its just making people like you waking up and smelling the coffee.

[anotheoldgit]

Don't you think stokeace that is just what we are doing now, 'sitting at home waiting for the next atrocity, they are already here in a flat in London or in a terraced house in Birmingham, they could even be your next door neighbour.

So why is it stokeace that all those who have a different opinion to that of yours? you accuse them, of being brainwashed by the Anti War Brigade? One can be against unnecessary wars without belonging to your so called Anti War Brigade.

If we were to wipe out the Taleban in Afghanistan and the al-Qaida in Iraq, do you honestly believe we would see an end to terroism? No there are terrorists all over the world Pakistan, India, Morocco etc. We even have them closer to home, and that is in this country.

So I would rather our troops come home and protect these shores, after all that is what they are paid by the taxpayer to do. Not to help another country to sort out their own internal problems. Or to stand by and witness the illegal growing of the Opium poppy, which incidently supplies most of the Western Worlds Drugs Barons. Yes to think about it, to rid the world of the biggest crop of these poppies, was also another excuse for going to war with Afghanistan, but I have yet to see these poppy fields put to the torch.

We can all come to our own conclusions why we went to war, but we will never ever know the real reasons. Regarding NATO I though that all members carry the same responsibilities and commitments, not just those that individual members choose to take on-board? 'All for one and one for all'.

[stokeace]

i agree that terrorists are in our midst anotheoldgit and these are the home grown radical extremeists who are preached hatred in the mosques which are situated in our towns and cities.and where do you think the clerics who preach such hatred get their orders and come from............................yes thats right iraq the place where our troops are fighting .....................yes you guessed it the war on terror.make no mistake about it if we werent in iraq and afghanistan trying to supress these terrorists they would unleash an atomic or biological weapon somewhere in the west and yes indeed they still could.it would be intresting to see what stance the french or germans would take if such an attack was to take place on their soil.you can bet a months salary they would deploy thousands of their troops to iraq and afghanistan and expect us to send more to DEFEAT the war on terror.

[anotheoldgit]

Yes youv'e got it in one stokeace, that would be interesting to see how the French and Germans would react to a threat on them. But you can bet your bottom dollar that we would back them to the hilt, as always. When will we ever learn? Heard on the news today that there is a record crop of the opium poppy this year in Afghanistan, and the street value of heroin in America and Europe will be slashed. So I still think we should burn the harvest and then bring our troops home.

[stokeace]

i agree about the poppyfields anotheolsgit but i still think we should keep our troops fighting the enemy.