SIMON JENKINS writes: “Now must begin the agonising process of escaping that appalling mistake” and many consider “escaping” a morally acceptable course when operations become difficult (Fall back, men, Afghanistan is a nasty war we can never win, Comment, last week). His assumption that pulling out would “restore respect for tribal autonomy” appears to overlook the high probability that Afghanistan would fall into the hands of a bolstered Taliban resistance, which is only just being “controlled” by more than 40,000 western troops and a 50,000-strong Afghan force (armed by western powers).

To quit after just seven years, with minor troop losses, would waste past efforts and leave the way open to militants. Rather than misplaced faith in a Pashtun rejection of the Taliban, the stagnation should be met with greater investments in troops and in regeneration.

Frankie Evans Sandhurst, Berkshire

CANNON FODDER

Jenkins mentioned Ministry of Defence plans to create a new kind of half-trained soldier to supplement understrength battalions. Training, especially for modern war, is about more than skills acquisition. The only logic of MoD ideas resides in a cannon-fodder mentality, outdated 50 years ago.

Nato is almost dead. Taking on inappropriate tasks will only hasten the birth of a fragmented Euro-army before adequate political and financial controls are in place. Nato was and should be a defensive alliance. Near and Middle East firefighting is not its role. Nor is it the role of a small, once great, now weary island nation.

John Prince (Colonel ret’d) Merles, France

POPPY APPEAL

The destruction of the opium crop is unlikely to reduce drug abuse here, any more than bombing breweries and burning distilleries would prevent binge drinking and alcoholism.

Afghan farmers will be left destitute and resentful, ripe for recruitment by terrorists. Given the terrain and the climate, growing viable alternative crops is not an easy option. Opium is the pain relief for the sick, as medical care is nonexistent in many villages. We should buy the bulk of the crop and permit registered addicts to buy it.

Mary Alexander Sturminster Newton, Dorset

SURGE OF DEMOCRACY

Jenkins and others have argued for a withdrawal from Iraq – a “disaster” and a “war we could never win”. With the surge we have democracy and peace spreading in this once-doomed land. The Blair/Bush offensive will be seen to not only have been necessary, but a success.

Nigel Cross Westbury, Wiltshire

TRIBAL STRENGTH

Do our leaders read any history? I worked on the periphery of the intelligence community in the 1990s, travelling around the Afghan border/North West Frontier Province. (For 10 years I wrote for Jane’s Intelligence Review on insurgency matters.) To anybody who studies the region, even from a distance, it is clear its tribal components render it unassailable by the West. As nobody in a position of any influence ever took a blind bit of notice of anything I wrote, I gave up in the end.

Paul Harris, Hanoi

MYOPIC GENERALS

As an exTerritorial Army soldier and a reader of history, I hope the article sends politicians and generals on both sides of the Atlantic scurrying to their libraries. Regrettably, even an illuminating treatise such as Jenkins’ will not improve the myopia of such buffoons.

Christopher Ambatzi-Crecy Athens, Greece

HELPING THE WOMEN

Withdrawal would only be acceptable if the Taliban can be hermetically sealed within Afghanistan – an impossible task. Millions of Afghani women depend on us. Were it not for the West’s mistake in arming the Taliban the modernising, albeit Soviet allied, government would still be in power.

Arnold Ward Weybridge, Surrey

UNFAIR TO LEAVE

The Brits and the Americans created the problem. Leaving today is not fair on the people there. We created the mess, we can’t just leave and forget it.

Peter Magayisa Bebington, Wirral

THE PEOPLE’S VOTE

The parliamentary system in Britain is in need of reform. If the people had voted on the matter, there would be no war in Afghanistan. They should decide whether to stay or leave.

Jim Wills Brisbane, Australia

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