End 'pointless' war now, urge troop families
Sunday 07 October 2012
Printable
EmailNineteen relatives of the 400 British military personnel killed in Afghanistan demanded yesterday that Britain end its involvement in the bloody 11-year war.
They told Prime Minister David Cameron in an open letter that the Con-Dems' planned 2015 withdrawal was an "unforgiveable" extension to a "pointless" war.
"All indications are the vast majority of Afghans want NATO troops to leave and leave soon. The occupation is the main cause of violence in the country," they wrote.
Not leaving until 2015 "would lead to the death over over 100 more British soldiers, the wounding of hundreds more and the death of uncounted Afghan civilians," they said.
The Military Families Against the War letter was sent as protesters gathered in London, Manchester and Newcastle to mark another grim anniversary and read the names of the dead - both British and Afghan.
Ministry of Defence officials say they do not track the number of civilian and guerilla deaths.
United Nations figures released in March estimate that 12,000 civilians have been killed since 2006.
And the Stop the War Coalition says that tens of thousands more may have died from worsened poverty, disease and famine.
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