I CAN see a parallel with the war in Afghanistan, where the American and British governments have decided to increase the number of soldiers, with the past war in Vietnam.
In the mid-1960s, military advisors told President Johnson to increase the number of troops in Vietnam to win the war – the figure reached 500,000 by the late Sixties. All that achieved was to increase the number of troops killed; in total, almost 70,000, and the Americans still lost the war.
How many more grieving families of British military personnel killed in action will there need to be before it is realised that we cannot win in Afghanistan? Terrorism is a worldwide problem and is not confined to one location, as some pro-war supporters would have us believe.
President Hamid Karzai presides over a corrupt administration in Afghanistan, which includes a national army with many who take drugs and a police force which sets up roadblocks to take money from their own people.
Is this a nation our military should be shedding blood for?
Keith Dewison, Billingham.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here