[R-G] (Afghanistan) How many more will die in vain before we withdraw?

[Sid Shniad]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/15/afghanistan-propaganda-soldiers-deaths-bbc 



The Guardian 15 July 2009 



How many more will die in vain before we withdraw? 



The attempt to exploit soldiers' deaths to win support for the shameful war in Afghanistan thankfully isn't working 



Seumas Milne 



All week politicians, media and the military have strained every nerve to turn public sympathy over the deaths of British squaddies into support for the US-led occupation of Afghanistan. After a year of parades, a new Armed Forces Day and a stream of censored reports of derring-do from the frontline, the killing of 15 soldiers in 10 days has triggered a barrage of war propaganda. Having all but ignored the same number who died in Helmand province last month, every tabloid and Whitehall stop has been pulled out to capitalise on the emotions unleashed by the continuing sacrifice of British teenagers in an endless war.