Why are the Brits here?

Referring to Mr Solomon’s article (‘Why in God’s name are we over there?’, Sunday Mail, August 2), referring to Afghan and the billions it costs to run a modern war, I would take this one step further.
Why in God’s name do the British have a presence in Cyprus?  Gone are the days  when Britannia needed overseas forces.  All the colonies have gone and with the cost of running the bases moving into the millions, they are a liability for the taxpayer. 

Apart from bringing jobs and revenue to the island, what purpose does it serve the UK? Both Britain and America are regarded as being responsible for ‘World Peace’, some may even say their causes, most probably cause more problems than they settle.

But the fact of the matter is Britain fought two world wars. It never recovered from the loss of so many of its young men in the first and ended the second more bankrupt than Germany. The first war was fought over the invasion of Belgium and the second over the invasion of Poland.

In neither war was Britain actually it threatened, but it fought on behalf of other countries. Britain is no longer a world power and it is time to admit this fact, and move its troops back to its boarder and let the rest of the world’s armies do their share of World Peace.

When you look to Afghan how many of the NATO armies are there? Just three is the answer. So where is our National Guard and its new €100m tanks? If the war is for World Peace shouldn’t all the nations be there doing their share?

Peter G Davis,
Droushia, Paphos

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.