As news of the deaths of the six young soldiers dominate the headlines (Report, 8 March) it makes me weep with anger. 404 young men killed in Afghanistan alone. Why? To what end? Who for? The sentimental and frankly appalling language used by the prime minister and indeed any parliamentarians who are wheeled out in front of the camera's is hypocritical and shameful. Cowardly, disgraceful, appalling. The number of civilian casualties runs to tens of thousands, many killed by drones, buttons pushed from desks far away.
Cowardly? Disgraceful? Appalling? The sentence "The great sacrifice …" is wheeled out over and over again. Where is your sacrifice, parliament? How many members have young men fighting in Afghanistan? None, I'll bet. Yet they feel qualified to emote and look gravely at the camera having voted for war that even to the most unqualified observer seems a war without end. Parliament you embarrass us, shame on you.
Gregor Truter
London
• David Cameron pays tribute to "the sacrifice that our troops have made and continue to make" in Afghanistan (Death toll of British soldiers in Afghanistan passes 400, 8 March). But sacrifice for what? According to a May 2011 report based on interviews with 1,425 Afghan men by the International Council on Security and Development, 87% of respondents in southern Afghanistan believed Nato military operations were bad for the Afghan people, while 92% said they thought foreign forces disrespected their religion and traditions. Unsurprisingly, the same report found 86% of men in the south of the country thought it was wrong to work with foreign forces.
Ian Sinclair
London
• Those of us old enough to remember the My Lai massacre in Vietnam know that when wars are deemed unwinnable atrocities are committed on both sides by those leaving, and those who cannot wait for the occupying force to go. As al-Qaida is not now mainly based in Afghanistan but has dispersed throughout the region and beyond, it is pointless for us to remain. It is time for the west to face facts and leave.
Valerie Crews
Beckenham, Kent
• No one likes leaving a job half done but President Karzai's endorsement of the Afghan Ulema council's edict that women are worth less than men makes a strong case for Nato to pull out all its troops from Afghanistan and for the international community to stop pouring in aid. If the government there has not yet learned the basic truths about equal opportunities for all men and women, how can we legitimately support them economically and militarily?
Roger Anstey
Dibden, Southampton
• The most technologically sophisticated army in the world is succumbing to tin-can bombs made from fertilizer by enemies who ride about on mopeds. Can someone explain this madness?
Nigel Jarrett
Chepstow, Monmouthshire
• Are we fighting in Afghanistan so that women must wear a burqa, be always accompanied by a male when going out and be allowed to be beaten by their husband? Is this worth the death of 400 of our soldiers?
A Grieve
Ferndown, Dorset