Why have 100 British soldiers died in Afghanistan this year?

Gordon Brown claims the 100th British soldier to die this year in Afghanistan died "doing what is right for Britain". He didn't. He died to save the face of politicians like Brown who cannot face admitting that the 100th soldier to die lost his life in a pointless war, as did all the other British soldiers and countless thousands of Afghans who have been killed in the past eight years.

The hundredth British soldier to die in Afghanistan this year was killed because Gordon Brown refuses to learn the lesson of history: that the people of Afghanistan never accept occupation by foreign powers.

He died fighting to support one of the most corrupt governments in the world, which is dominated by war lords and drug traffickers and which has no legitimacy following a breathtakingly fraudulent election.

Gordon Brown says the 100th soldier died to safeguard Britain against terrorist attack. But no Afghan has ever attacked Britain or any other country.

He died, says Brown, to help defeat al-Qaeda. But more British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in 2009 than the total number of al-Qaeda in the country, which the US government admits is just a few dozen.

He died according to Brown helping to bring stability and security to Afghanistan. But it is the eight years of war that is the cause of the insecurity, having brought nothing but ever increasing levels of death and devastation.

Brown says the 100th soldier died because the British army has a mission to train Afghan security forces to take responsibility for fighting the forces opposing occupation. But all there is to show after eight years of "training" Afghans to replace British soldiers is a phantom army and ghost police force. Nato instructors openly admit it is a hopeless task, but Brown says this is the escape plan for bringing British troops home from Afghanistan.

By increasing to over 10,000 the number of British troops sent to kill and be killed in Afghanistan, Gordon Brown has condemned many more soldiers and countless Afghans to die in an unjustified and unwinnable war.

The truth is Britain has no national security interests in Afghanistan. The war is being continued for no other reason than to save the face of politicians and military commanders who cannot faceadmitting defeat after eight years of conflict which has brought only mass slaughter and devastation to Afghanistan.

The 100th soldier to die this year did so on a sea of lies about why Britain is fighting a war in the world's second poorest country, against a people who are no threat to any other country and who only want to be free of foreign occupation.

Campaigning to bring the troops home

To mark the 100th death this year, Stop the War groups across the country will hold vigils and naming the dead ceremonies, at which the names of all 100 soldiers killed will be read out, together with the names of 100 Afghans to represent the countless thousands who have died.

On Monday 21 December, many military families will join with former soldiers to deliver Stop the War's Bring the Troops Home petition to Gordon Brown at Downing Street.

In the coming months Stop the War will be intensifying its campaign to bring pressure on the Gordon Brown's government to withdraw all British troops from Afghanistan, which all opinion polls show is supported by an overwhelming majority of the British public.

We are a few months away from a general election and Stop the War plans to hold protests, lobbies and other events across the country to ensure that every politician standing for office knows that if they support the sensless war in Afghanistan they are opposing the view of most people whose vote they are seeking.