As more British troops are killed in Afghanistan the debate on just why we are there intensifies. Eight years ago we joined the Americans in Afghanistan in support of the 9/11 atrocity, a noble cause then.

Now it seems we are there to help the Afghanis organise a democratic society and provide educational opportunities for women rather than tackle a direct threat to Britain. Im not saying that women and democracy arent worth fighting for but is it our problem thousands of miles away?

Ann Smith, the grandmother of Dane Elson, 22, who was one of the recent casualties said: I am angry. He should not have been there; none of our boys should be there. Its for what? So they can have elections?

The government are now saying, as the deaths increase, that we are there to stop the Taliban reaching Pakistans capital, Islamabad, where they will have access to the countrys nuclear arsenal.

In 1979 the mighty Russian armies invaded Afghanistan yet failed to defeat the Mujahideen after a nine year war during the Cold War period. They had to withdraw after realising that it was a war they simply couldnt win. Basically a massive super power, like Russia with the capability at that time of blowing the world up five times over, couldnt defeat a group of resistance fighters with outdated military hardware. Are we facing the same problem here? Is it time we called it a day?

The Americans made a similar mistake to Russia only in Vietnam. They lost more than 58,000 troops in that offensive, again lasting eight years. Shouldnt we learn from history? Recently I studied GCSE history and wrote about the Arab/Israeli conflict for my coursework.

Britain spent nearly 30 years trying to help those parties solve their problems. We eventually pulled 100,000 troops out of Palestine in 1947 because we simply couldnt afford to keep them there. We had food shortages and rationing in Britain. Can we afford to be involved in Afghanistan now when we have our old people having to sell their homes to fund care in their old age and cancer sufferers having to by their own drugs? Its a debate that will continue while our troops are dying in battle.