Skipper

Having given my account of why we should get out of the war in my last post, here is my version of the arguments why we should stay.

1. Nuclear threat: if the west withdraws it will give the Taliban a golden chance to win not just Afghanistan but Pakistan too and access their nuclear weapons. Al-Qaeda did terrible things with commercial aircraft- imagine what they might do with nuclear weapons. Possibly Pakistan might be persuaded to render their nuclear arsenal unobtainable but this is still a major danger.

2. NATO might collapse: such a break up of NATO unity might ruin the alliance and UK would lose the basis of its defence since 1949.

3. Afghan people: we would be condemning a benighted people another dose of extreme Islam- something which 70% of them say they oppose.

4. US Alliance: we might ruin our close connection with the USA, again a major aspect of our security since the middle of 20th century.

The case for withdrawal seemed to me to be irrefutable when I first constructed it but further thought produced the above points of which I think maybe the first is the clincher. But, like Jackie Ashley today I do think the war in unwinnable and that an exit strategy will eventually have to be found, if not by Brown, then by Cameron when, as seems likely, he becomes prime minister.