GORDON Brown has agreed to increase British forces in Afghanistan by 500 soldiers - if certain conditions are met.

He wants them to have the necessary equipment, other Nato countries must boost their numbers and more Afghan soldiers must be trained.

We believe he is right in all of these conditions. The question many will ask is this - should any more British troops be sent under any conditions?

More than 200 British personnel have died in this conflict, some of them from our own area, and the numbers grow every week.

Many feel this is an unwinnable conflict and some are now suggesting that we are morally wrong to be in Afghanistan.

It all depends on your point of view and we believe that all viewpoints should be respected.

Ours is that if Afghanistan can be brought under the control of a proper democracy, minus the corruption that besets it at present, it will be far preferable to the Taliban taking over again.

Let us not forget how the Taliban played host to al-Qaeda while at the same time brutalising its own people.

Public executions were commonplace and women had virtually no human rights.

We believe an Afghanistan minus the Taliban will be better not only for the Afghans but better for the rest of the world in that it would not be a haven for terrorists.

We are very aware that this view is not shared by everybody and the longer the conflict drags on the more difficult it will be for anyone to maintain justification for the war.