Repton discusses Afghanistan and asks 'why'?

The Politics Society met last night (Wednesday 14th October) to discuss the title “Afghanistan: a troubled country:- past, present and future” .

Following some contextual information the meeting ground to a halt, in common with the general public not actually knowing much about Afghanistan and more importantly not knowing why Britain was in Afghanistan.

The evening’s discussion centred on why the country is involved, looking at the Bush Doctrine of 2001 (America’s outlines for a war in Afghanistan) acknowledging that the majority of the aims had not been met and were unlikely to be in the near future.

One member put forward the suggestion that we cannot simply withdraw and leave the country to sort itself out, another said that Afghanistan was a social issue, for example, founding his argument on the value of the poppy fields to Afghan Farmers. In addition, another member raised the question why force was necessary to deal with the Taleban back in 2001.

A conclusion was arrived at, following a vote on two viewpoints. Firstly, immediate withdrawal with no further contribution which secured twelve votes and secondly, whether Britain should remain, boost numbers and try to sort the ‘problem’ out which secured sixteen votes. This means therefore, that for the second meeting in a row, the Repton Politics Society has voted against the polls of the general public.

However, one thing that the society shares with the general public is the understanding of the Afghan conflict and therein lies the question – why?

The society looks forward to meeting again after half-term to discuss whether the “NHS should remain should remain a free service and if it is fit for service in 2009”.