Independent: War in Afghanistan: Not in our name

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War in Afghanistan: Not in our name

71% of Britons back IoS call for withdrawal of forces within a year

By Jane Merrick and Brian Brady in London and Kim Sengupta in Kabul
Sunday, 15 November 2009


Seven out of 10 Britons back The Independent on Sunday's call for a phased withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as a landmark report by Oxfam this week exposes the real human cost of the war.

The powerful dossier by the aid agency reveals how women and children in Afghanistan are bearing the brunt of the ongoing conflict, undermining the international community's claims that they are the very people being helped by the West's activities.

Its contents will add to mounting concerns among the public, and in some quarters of the military and the House of Commons, that the US and the UK are fighting an ill-conceived and ill-judged war that has left as many as 32,000 Afghans dead and 235,000 displaced.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/war-in-afghanistan-not-in-our-name-1820949.html