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Afghanistan and Pakistan

My Lords, I have a question about public support for this conflict, but I would like to put it in a context that relates to the intervention of the noble Lord, Lord King. If we go down the road of having a party political divide on this—he did ask us to compare the current a situation to his record as Secretary of State for Defence—we will end up in a party slanging match, and that would not be beneficial to him. I could start talking about the housing provision at that time; he will know how much damage that did to morale in the Armed Forces. His question was inadvisable because if we go down that route, the only people who will gain will be our opponents in Afghanistan and the surrounding area. My specific question is this: there is a lowering of support for this conflict in Britain, Europe and North America. Part of the reason is obviously the increase in the number of deaths, but we really have yet to match our opponents in our ability to convey what we are doing there and why and how we are doing it. Given the problems within NATO in terms of delivering fighting forces, there is a very real role for it here, particularly using the internet and other means, to convey a much more powerful message about what it and the United Nations are doing, how they are doing it and the linkage between the military and civilian roles. That is immensely important.