Don't desert them

Following the death of three Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan the Swedes have growing doubts about the mission in the Hindu Kush. But after visiting the crisis area Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt writes in his blog that the operations should continue: "I don't believe we can produce a perfect society out of thin air in the Hindu Kush. But I can't accept that we abandon those who are trying to construct a constitutional state, give women opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have and give boys and girls an education they wouldn't get. The tragedy is that these efforts have to be protected - even militarily - against those who are trying to transport the country back into the Dark Ages with their oppression and prejudices. To believe anything else is merely to show how little one has understood."

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