Matthew Parris writes in the Times (Sat 24 Feb 07) -
here. The second to last paragraph is perhaps the most pertinent:
"To die in a military offensive in a war that looks winnable may be a bearable sorrow. What would be insupportable would be to die in a retreat executed in a manner aimed more to save face than to save soldiers’ lives. As it becomes ever clearer that Britain is disengaging from an operation that has not been a political success, more deaths of British Service personnel will seem increasingly to be lives lost in vain."
MLT