Our Armed Forces

It is indeed worrying to read today that one considered view is that we are likely to be involved in Afghanistan for at least 40 years.

I can however understand why it would be nothing short of catastrophic to world peace for the Allies to pull out now. Whether we like it or not, we are waging a war that is becoming increasingly fearsome and sophisticated.

But what troubles me more than anything is the suggestion by the Foreign Secretary that we should be prepared to see some form of negotiation with the more moderate element of the Taleban. With respect, by its very definition, the Taleban is not moderate.

It reminds me of that vociferous minority of people, including the Foreign Secretary of the time, who insisted that we could negotiate with the more moderate elements of the Nazis even though time and again in the preceding years we had been outwitted by that bunch of thugs that masqueraded as moderate democratic government.

We paid a heavy price.

We must stand firm. We must back our Armed Forces and we must give them the proper equipment, manpower and resources to fight this war.

The public are beginning, just, to obtain an incline of the savagery of battle in Hellmand Province when we see the news reports from RAF Lyneham and Wootten Basset.
We must back our field hospitals and we must insist that our wounded troops, upon return to the UK, are given the best medical treatment and after care.

Parliament must put a stop to the disgraceful spectacle of attempting to cut back on compensation awarded to members of our Armed Forces.

Kenneth T Webb
Editor
Liverpool CityLife