100 Brit Deaths In Afghanistan

Three more dead British servicemen, courtesy of an Afghan suicide bomber, has taken the toll to 100 British troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
Arrival at this gruesome milestone has led to questions being asked about the sacrifices our troops are making in the name of Queen and country but to my mind, it is not the right questions we are asking.
Like the Iraq conflict, whatever your feelings about whether we should be there or not, the facts are that we are there but why are we only questioning our presence now? Why does it take the 100th death of a Brit before we say 'hang about, what exactly are we doing there?'
We stopped counting Afghan civilian deaths in Dec 2002 when it stood at an atrocious 3800. Heaven only knows what the figure is now.
The truth is that we are stuck in Afghanistan. Leaving would result in a far greater loss of life and the return of the Taliban while staying means the country remains a basket case run by a puppet Government that we prop up.
So just what have tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and over 800 NATO troops died for?
Bin Laden is still at large, the trade in Opium has skyrocketed, the Taliban are regrouping, insurgency attacks are on the rise and despite all our firepower, we are still fighting a war seven years after its inglorious birth.
And yet, although we are no nearer an end as we ever were in Afghanistan and Iraq, the sabres are being rattled over attacking Iran next. We never learn but it seems that it doesn't matter how many innocent civilians we kill in the process, as long as the number of deaths on our side stays out of treble figures, we can swallow it.