A total of 64 per cent want all British forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan ‘as quickly as possible’, with 33 per cent in disagreement, a ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday revealed yesterday.
Some 60 per cent of those polled disagreed that more British troops and resources should be devoted to Afghanistan, with just 34 per cent agreeing.
The Stop the War Coalition yesterday also published ‘ten reasons to get the troops out of Afghanistan’.
Among these are: ‘1. The death rate is rising on both sides.
‘The number of British troops who have died is now higher than those killed in 6 years in Iraq. . .
‘No one keeps track of the number of Afghan dead but it numbers tens of thousands since 2001. In May more than 140 Afghans, mainly women and children, were killed in one air strike.’
‘2. This is an unwinnable war. . .
‘3. Gordon Brown claims the war is about combating terrorism. But there was no terrorist threat to Britain before the war in Afghanistan, or before the war in Iraq in 2003. . .
‘5. The war is spreading to Pakistan, which is a nuclear state, opening up the prospect of an even more terrible conflict.
‘6. Life is getting worse for most Afghans under occupation. There is a huge refugee problem. Corruption is rife. . . According to the United Nations life expectancy has fallen for Afghans since 2003. . .
‘7. Britain has spent £4.6 billion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq every year – enough money to create 200,000 graduate jobs annually.
‘We should be funding these jobs, not wasting more money on war. Unemployment must not become a recruiting sergeant for the army.
‘8. More troops or helicopters won’t help. .
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‘10. The majority of Afghans do not want the war and occupation.
‘The majority of British people think the troops should come home by Xmas at the latest.’
