This is part of a series of eighteen questions from The Democracy Club asked of the Isle of Wight candidates in the 2010 General Election (background).
National statement fourteen: British troops should stay in Afghanistan as long as they are needed.
| Candidate | Position | Comment | |
| Ian Dunsire (English Democrats Party) | disagrees | “We should support our troops but work towards a planned withdrawal. We went to fight terrorism and ended up fighting a civil war to prop up a corrupt government. Unwinnable!” | |
| Bob Keats (Green Party) | is neutral | “Define needed! Afghanistan will require a political solution not a military one.” | |
| Pete Harris (Independent) | is neutral | “Having been committed our forces have no choice other than to see the job through. Pakistan is the real worry, it cannot be left to fall into the hands of Islamists.” | |
| Paul Martin (Middle England Party) | disagrees | “The challenge here is ‘as long as they are needed’ we should never have gone there in the fisrt place but we have now created so much hate that the terrorism challenge has increased not deminished – bonkers.” | |
| Paul David Randle-Jolliffe (Independent) | disagrees | “No we should get out rapidly once the locals are trained and equiped and we have done all we can to bring the supposed enemy to the table for peace, we have no right to impose our ways on others by arms.” | |
| Mark Chiverton (Labour Party) | disagrees | “I am in favour of the earliest possible withdrawal of troops because I am unconvinced that the high cost in terms of expenditure and lives in relation to the apparent strategic objectives can be justified.” | |
| Michael Tarrant (UK Independence Party – UKIP) | disagrees | “They will be needed forever – we must be realistic.” | |
| Jill Wareham (Liberal Democrats) | disagrees |
Those who didn’t provide responses: Andrew Turner – Conservative, Geof Clynch – BNP and Edward Corby – Independent
The idea for this whole idea came from the excellent The Democracy Club and answers are hosted by the splendid
Election issue of TheyWorkForYou.
Image: Burning Karma CC BY 2.0
