Pretence that young soldiers are saving us from terrorists

EVERY day, as an 89-year-old 1939-45 veteran that served in the Infantry in three war zones, I feel sick and angry that we continue to send these young men to Afghanistan, a god-forsaken area that will never be settled politically because of religion which has taken the guise of terrorism.

I felt even worse later when I listened to senior Conservative and Labour politicians continue with the pretence that we are there to defend our country from terrorists and we would continue to stay until 2014.

There is good and bad all over the world and most of the problems stem from religion. It’s time that all these religious sects have a good look at themselves and others and sort out what they want from each other. I am sure that most do not want terrorism but that’s what we have and people are dying and starving and going to war to maintain it.

Our forces are doing a great job in Afghanistan to try and put it right. Terrorism on the ground there is the problem. Countries and religions have to deal with it themselves. You can only take democracy so far. Libya today is a classic. We as Britons can’t stay there, or anywhere else for that matter, for long periods. We cannot afford it and we have to get out, particularly when it takes the lives of our young soldiers. They can only do so much and we as a country are asking far too much of them.

One thing that went through my mind when I heard of the death of these six young men was the grief of the families and the ongoing problem for them and the ongoing problems of those that are very severely injured.

I got to thinking, why doesn’t the Government do a deal with insurance companies and pay for the premiums for both death and severe injury for the time period they are at risk for the 10, 15 or 20 years individuals spend in the forces in war zones?

It’s a minimal period of time and could be sorted out relatively easily by the insurance companies. The Government could pay for it and this would certainly ease the burden that some of these young families are having to endure.

From: Arthur Quarmby, Holme, Holmfirth.

How is it that a small group of Afghan peasants is able to defeat the armies of Russia, the United States and Britain?

One might well ask how that same group could deliver a stunning blow against the world’s top superpower in the form of 9/11?

And the answer in each case is a combination of intelligence, and imagination – qualities sadly lacking in the three armies which seem to expect and accept the destruction of equipment and lives as natural and unavoidable.

What the hell are our boffins doing? Have we no-one capable of devising simple means to defeat the Taliban’s Improvised Explosive Devices?

As big armies have been shown to be very vulnerable to guerrilla resistance, it really is high time some forward thinking was applied in military circles.

From: Peter Hyde, Kendale View, Driffield.

I HAVE no doubt that our young soldiers have courage and determination and I really do admire the way they have conducted themselves in the hell hole of Afghanistan but I simply cannot agree with Patrick Mercer that they are successfully preparing the Afghanistan army to take over their role (Yorkshire Post, March 9).

The whole country will revert to the situation it was in before the intervention of the US and ourselves. We are repeatedly told by politicians that in intervening in Afghanistan we are defending our own country. What a nonsense.

After our troops leave, the Taliban will return and once again the country will be a hotbed of insurrection. Pakistan has proved to be the host of the radical Muslims, so why have we not invaded there to stamp out terrorism?

From: Godfrey Bloom, UKIP MEP for Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire

MY heart goes out to the families and friends of the six soldiers killed in Afghanistan, five of them from the 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment.

I spent some time on the Canadian training area with the Yorkshire Regiment and I was in Afghanistan a couple of years ago to see our servicemen at work. They are truly magnificent. One can only imagine the pain their families are going through at the moment; it is shared by the nation at this time.

Being a soldier in these troubled times is not easy, being at home waiting for them can be worse.

These brave lads will never be forgotten by their loved ones and we too must never forget their sacrifice.