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Afghanistan – mission impossible?

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As President Obama debates whether to send even more troops to the country, and the British death toll there rises, former The World host Eddie Mair chairs a debate at Chatham House in London about how close the west is to achieving its ambitions in Afghanistan.

What is its ‘mission’? To close down terrorist cells in the country, making the UK or the US a safer place? To introduce democracy, greater freedom for women, more electricity, water?

Taking part in the debate are:

Francesc Vendrell, who was the European Union’s Special Representative for Afghanistan from 2002 to 2008; before that he was the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan.

Brigadier Buster Howes, who is the Head of Overseas Operations at the MOD.

Eric Joyce, a former major in the army and now a Labor parliamentarian. He resigned as an aide to the defense secretary, calling on Gordon Brown to make clear to the British people that the Afghanistan campaign was ‘time limited’.

Lindsey German, a senior organizer of the ‘Stop the War Coalition’.

Dr John Mackinlay, a counter-insurgency expert from King’s College, London.