http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5230138.stm

I was wondering what is the general p.ie consensus on the presence of Western forces (now 8,000 NATO forces as of Monday) in Afghanistan?

Is the West justified in backing up an Islamic fundamentalist democracy in order to prevent an Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship (i.e. Taliban rule), or is the NATO presence just ensuring the continuation of a perpetual civil war, with peace only possible under brutal Taliban rule? With hundreds killed in Khandahar in the last few months, and the UK and Canadian forces taking worse casualties in Afghanistan than they are in Iraq, should the West leave Afghanistan's tribes to fight it out?

I'm sure there are many posters who feel Western former colonial powers have no right to interfere in other countries, but personally I feel the deployment in Afghanistan could be morally justified on humanitarian grounds (i.e. I wanted to see the Taliban overthrown long before September 11th 2001), however the presence of foreign forces seems to be making little impact, and opium production is higher than ever.

Afghanistan's future doesn't appear to be worth killing or dying for.