Cymro that is your personal view.
Why do young lads,join the armed forces.I think it is because there are no jobs about.And they want to see a bit of the world.[and are proud that they are doing something]
I don`t support any government, that sends teenagers to war.

Why does it always descend into this!!?? Grow up, we can all agree to disagree and have an opinion, we all get along for the sake of the forum as a whole, flame baiter's like you aren't needed, nor wanted.

Cymro1, you're right of course about those who come on here with the sole intention of shouting down those whose opinions they don't like. The trouble is, they don't have any of their own. All they can do is hurl tirades of insults and abuse, and even threats.

Notice how the political threads on the local government section have been almost inactive for months. Nobody wants to write on there because of the presence of a certain element who have nothing to say other than what I've already mentioned. It thus turns into a medium of drivel.

I don't mind anyone having a go at my opinions, provided they have an alternative viewpoint to offer, but as can be seen, the only thing that this element can offer is mindless garbage.

Anyway, as to your Afghanistan thread: Here I have to disagree with you. I get deeply saddened every time I see another coffin passing through Wotton Basset. However, the problem for the whole world is not necessarily Afghanistan, but Pakistan. That country has nuclear weapons, and is itself unstable. If the Taliban gain a foothold there, and even overthrow the Pakistan government, then we are all in trouble.

Once a group of fanatics, blinded by religious fervour and hatred of the West and its values, gets its hands on the nuclear button, then Armageddon is just a matter of time. Afghanistan is the gateway to Pakistan of course, and that is the reason why I support our troops there.

Afghanistan however has not always been like this. It was once a peaceful, almost idyllic place to live until the Russians decided to move in and prop up a communist regime there. That gave rise to the CIA backed Mujahadeen to fight the Russians, which became the modern Taliban. The monster created by the Americans has now turned on them, much like the Frankenstein monster of Mary Shelley, and we all have to go in to help them destroy their own creation.

There are other issues at stake in Afghanistan by the way. It's the biggest exporter of heroin to the west, but that again is down to economics. If the west were to pump as much money into subsidising Afghan farmers to produce food rather than drugs, then I'm sure that they'd soon abandon the drugs culture altogether because it would cease to be viable.

It's all about economics of course, and the political will to spread wealth on a more equitable basis. Let's face it, if you have a good income that furnishes a good lifestyle, with healthcare and education for your kids that secures them a future, would you take up arms in pursuit of some idea that is going to turn your country into a graveyard?

That's the choice facing the Afghans, and the Palestinians too, and probably other peoples around the world in similar circumstances. As Northern Ireland showed though, sooner or later you get bogged down in a cycle of violence and you have to talk to your enemy, no matter how loathesome they are. This could become another Vietnam, except that this time we the British are involved.

I think I know the type of organisations you are writing about, Cymro1: Groups like the Illuminati, the Bilderburgs and possibly others whose names and existence we don't even know about but who pull strings on a global scale.

It's too easy to run away with conspiracy theories. As the old saying goes, "Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean that they ain't out to get me."

Or Kenneth Williams in a Carry On film, "Infamy!Infamy! They've all got it infamy!"

From the local government forum on here though you'd think that all is rosy in the garden in RCT as nobody wants to make comment about local skulduggeries. As if they're all lily-white and squeaky clean, and nobody has any complaints. The reason being of course that lurking in the background is a certain element not particularly enamoured of those with opinions.

Maybe they're in tow to the local incumbents in power, and come on here with the sole aim of crushing any dissent through ridicule and mindless mockery. So easy when you're not articulate enough to form opinions of your own of course. It's called ad hominem; when instead of attacking the argument you launch into a tirade against the person instead. An old trick since time imemorial.

We've already seen by the way how George W. Bush's sidekick Dick Cheyney and his company Halliburton secured very lucrative contracts in Iraq for reconstruction and feeding the troops. As every war has shown, somebody always makes a killing (financially and literally) out of somebody else's misery. I've no doubt that our troops in Afghanistan are also protecting somebody's financial interests, even if they don't know it.

They're certainly propping up the corrupt regime of Karzai, and that's what I find so objectionable about our presence in that country. To think that our soldiers are dying to protect a corrupt little pipsqueak like him and his cronies makes my blood boil. We've got enough corruption under our very noses in Britain that needs seeing to without sending our troops abroad to die for it.

"The poor yearn for democracy, but the rich dread them getting it."

I don't know who said that, but it sure as hell rings true with me. It's not just the rich who hate democracy, but those in power are not that keen on it either, especially in this little neck of the woods here in RCT where the Labour party runs the show like their own personal fiefdom, and will stop at nothing to prevent their main rivals, Plaid Cymru, from getting into power. I hear many tales of dirty tricks being played out here.

This is the situation throughout Britain, I should add, so if that's the kind of democracy they want to impose on Afghanistan then no wonder the Afghans feel invaded by a hostile enemy. The shame is that our soldiers have to sacrifice their lives for a corrupt regime being propped up by other equally corrupt regimes.

You're right about the apathy, DMJ, and it worries me too as I see so much of it on here and in the country as a whole. I don't agree though that the British people will allow the country to be swamped by Islam. If this spineless government of ours allows such a thing to happen then I'm damned sure that there'll be an awakening, and a strong backlash against it. I for one would be only too happy to join in that backlash.

I can see our traditions and our very identity being swept aside by successive governments of all shades, and all in the name of political correctness. We're a tolerant lot on the whole, but even we have our limits, and once stirred I'll be there alongside everyone else in shouting that enough is enough.

I think you'll find too that I support our troops in Afghanistan. I don't relish the sight of coffins returning to Wooton Basset, but soldiers get killed in wars. I just hope that their deaths will not be in vain. We are however making terrible blunders in Afghanistan with the killing of civilians.

Try as we might to avoid it, it's happening too often, and that's no way to win hearts and minds, which is what we have to do to defeat the Taliban. We won't defeat them; the Afghan people must do that, but with our help.

There'a no gloom and doom on my part either. I just don't walk around with my eyes shut. We in Wales, and the valleys in particular, are in a dire situation with regards to economic deprivation and lack of opportunity. There is a lot of apathy around here; evidenced by the amount of drug and alcohol abuse on our streets.

Parts of England too have problems just as bad as ours, so it's not just a Welsh problem. However, this doesn't mean that we should just give up and sink into apathy. Telling ourselves that all is rosy in the garden though is not going to bring us out of the mire. We've got problems so let's deal with them.

Perhaps we can at least agree on that.

Ddraenen , there is a lot we agree on, it's just the way of dealing with it that is where we sometimes differ,i think our troops should be in Afghanistan they have led to a sort of democracy which however feeble it may seem now, its a seed that can grow. This religeous dogma that is being fored down our throars in this country if getting vomitable
and sucessive governments will not grasp the nettle like the prime minister of Australia did because they're too gutless. Sticking ones head in the sand may seem a good idea in relation to Afghanistan,but if we do the same thing here, then when the troops have finished in afghanistan , they may have to do the same damned thing in this country. We have been told to embrace the different cultures of foreign immigrants, but it's gone from an embrace, to being suffocated