MUCH has been said and more written about the rights and wrongs of our presence in Afghanistan and whether or not our Armed Forces have the up to date equipment to do the job which they are called upon to do. As the casualties mount these arguments are likely to continue unabated.

One aspect of the conflict however seems to get very little mention. Politicians trying to justify the reasons for this war often point out that Britain and the United States are not the only nations involved in the war and there are in fact 42 countries taking part.

Those in favour of closer ties with Europe and even suggest that there should be a common foreign policy and indeed a European army should be asking themselves why Britain and the United States are suffering the highest casualties in Afghanistan.

This is of course because most of the heavy fighting is taking place in Helmand province and countries like France (2780), Germany (3380), Italy (2350) and Spain (270) make sure that their troops serve in less volatile areas of that country.

Duties in Helmand Province should be fairly rotated and this means that our gallant soldiers should now be withdrawn and given a long rest period elsewhere in the country while the above mentioned European countries take their fair share of the fighting.

Our government should insist on this even if it means a threat to pull out of the European Union should these countries not agree to pull their weight.

R W SELWAY Burden Close Stratton St Margaret Swindon