"The Miller's Debate: This house believes the NATO mission in Afghanistan is doing more harm than good,"

Different people had different views on the aims and goals of the operation. Some thought of it as a limited war, designed to flush out and neutralise Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Quaida network. Others viewed it as an opportunity to rid the country of the scourge of the Taliban, and begin a grander nation-building project.

As the mission progressed, achieving certain goals, and suffering various setbacks along the way, many have questioned whether this war is winnable, or even desirable. Is this a question of the unwilling led by the unqualified, doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful? Do the Afghans even want us there? Would a NATO withdrawal now be a dignified exit, or a cowardly betrayal of the Afghan people?

In Clare Short MP, and the acclaimed wrier and journalist Peter Bergen (the first western journalist to interview Bin Laden) we have two eminently qualified minds to battle this question out, and answer our questions. This will be an Oxford style debate with a show of hands before and after.