From Donald McGregor.
I READ in your paper that the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant-General Andrew Ridgway, used the same word, ‘war’, when referring to Afghanistan as does Prime Minister Brown and President Obama.

Yes, America and Britain invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Did they also declare war on those two countries?

If it was, and is meant to be, war, then it is extremely unbalanced regarding weaponry. Tanks, armoured vehicles, heavy guns, aeroplanes (piloted and computer-directed), ships and ever increasing tons of armaments, plus magnificent medical back-up, as we saw on our TV screens.

All this in a ‘war’ against people who use their hands only, ie, make roadside bombs and fire weapons from their hands, with what medical back-up?

Instead of even more killings and the inevitable flag-draped coffins, why not make every effort to encourage the people who live in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Taliban, to gather at an acceptable place and talk about their desires and grievances?

Do they all really want foreign troops? Troops who do not want to lose any more lives for a cause that has not up to now been fully explained. The British general on Sunday’s BBC politics show in Afghanistan was not comfortable when asked to give that explanation.

Do not accuse me of ‘turning the other cheek’. I have always believed discipline, and therefore control, are essential for civilised living.

During my RAF life I (with many others) was stationed in Jordan, where we witnessed the dreadful conditions of the Palestinian refugees around Jericho. Their land had been taken from them. We employed a few but could do nothing for the masses.

Iraq was a beautiful place in those days. Roaming around Baghdad we were treated as friends. Did they really deserve what we have done to them now? We did not try to impose our way of life on them or those in Aden or the Persian Gulf.

The western world must learn how to respect the ways of life of other people. But we cannot and must not try to impose our way of life on other nations.