A bereaved father asks if his son gave his life in a cause worth fighting for. No, says a serving soldier on leave from the war.

The call, when it comes, is so stunning that everything goes numb and you shake. But the call, at 6.15pm going into a bank holiday weekend, is not a shock. It is the devastating realisation of all the worries and fears that gnaw at everyone, day and night, who has family, friends and colleagues in a theatre of war.

The other gnawing internal conflict for those same people, who support their loved ones 100 per cent in the job they are being asked to do, is that they may not be quite so enthusiastic about the policy which sends them there.

My son Sam, at 28, married to Claire with a son Leo, is dead. He was hoping to be given brief leave to be at Leo's first birthday, on 21 July, to see him take his first steps.

An improvised explosive device has put paid to that, as it has for his lieutenant, Ollie Augustin. The last time Sam was written up in this newspaper he had taken a bullet through his helmet but escaped injury after leading a defensive firefight that allowed his shot and injured troop leader to be dragged to safety.

Among the comments added by readers online were some very mean-spirited, even sneering criticisms. The Queen awarded him a Military Cross at Windsor Castle. He came home, the baby was born, and then the pre-theatre training for his second tour kicked in.

At the same time, and especially recently, there have been two sustained public relations campaigns. One says that we (Nato/Britain) are succeeding militarily. The other says that we cannot win this thing militarily and that talking with the enemy must be stepped up. Plans for withdrawal are being worked on continuously.

Is that a kind of facing both ways at once, the accusation so recently lodged against Pakistan by a finger-wagging David Cameron? How motivating is it if a stream of analysts say this is an unwinnable war, pointing out that Afghanistan has witnessed more than 100 years of failed interventions?

What is sure is that the deaths of these two Royal Marines from 42 Commando Group brought the total cost in lives for this campaign up to 368; one of those made me, for a while, the subject of that bland reference which is Ministry of Defence speak: "The family has been informed". Informed. What does the public really know? Are we winning the fight for democracy in Afghanistan, or is that country just a loose federation of fiefdoms, often still run by warlords?

Who or what are the Taliban? From what I have been told, this was not a ragbag peasant army. The most likely opponent, often very highly trained, could be Iranian, Chechen or Pakistani, not Afghans. So what does that do for the argument that, by waging war in Afghanistan, we are protecting Britain from a 9/11 or a Mumbai terrorist attack? Where does 7/7 fit into that? How much is the enemy already within?

Nothing should be taken away from Sam or the other 367, or the thousands more with life-changing injuries. But one thing for sure is that these guys and women are fighting primarily for each other in the most professional way. And there is much more emphasis on the ground, though not always in war reports, on forging links with the local community.

But Nato, when the Afghan public opinion chips are down, is not wanted. What we see as liberation is too often seen by them as occupation – and, if they listen to their own history, it is only a matter of time before Afghan life is restored. The average farmer struggles to survive and is certainly not a beneficiary of the reported $1bn of aid funding that has quietly disappeared.

Sam's life has not been wasted, because he was so damned good at what he did. The testimony from that most valuable of analysts, his own peer group, was alpha plus for him, humbling for me. My respect for him far outweighed any pride.

But, God knows, I loved you Sam and always will. And, if a faraway nondescript patch of rock and dust has claimed your flesh and blood, it can never claim your spirit, never destroy the bonds we had.

It is time the politicians were as professional as the men, including you, and the women they send to their deaths.

A soldier replies to a bereaved father: "Was your sons death a price worth paying? For me, no."

I am on leave from Afghanistan. I am a former Royal Marine during which time I was sent on three "tours" of Afghanistan. The leave which I am now taking is from contracting in Afghanistan. I am doing it for money, no more. I was tired of taking the risks for no money but I digress. I can tell you first hand that the "progress" made in Afghanistan does not exist. ISAF are releasing statements which indicate that the Afghan Forces are coming on leaps and bounds. However, I grip my rifle with an expectation to have to use it when I am around any Afghan Forces. They are loyal to no one. Without citing here I urge you to read about the recent attacks conducted by those "dressed in Afghan Police uniform".

During a tour I was able to sit in on meetings with the elders of certain villages. What we heard was repeated time and time again - we do not want the Police in our villages. As the coalition forces, we cleared large areas and then unable to hold the ground we put in Afghan Police. The Police which were put in place and supported by ISAF would rape, pillage and rob the locals.

Are these the people we are training? Why are we training, yet again, people who will become or possibly already are the enemy? 

Karzai is restricting ISAF more and more. This restriction is gaining the unpopular politician very little support but it also results in more risk and therefore more deaths on the side of ISAF.This war was on the basis of two goals - remove Al Qaeda from power and find Osama bin Laden. These goals, while not entirely transparent, are complete. Why are our troops continuing to die?

A report was released a few days ago whereby an attack on a forward operating base was quashed and the dead insurgents were searched. The documentation indicated that the attackers were Pakistani and French.

There is no doubt that Afghanistan is a far more violent place than before the invasion. We are no longer fighting Afghan Taliban and this is continually reported. It is the Pakistani Taliban, Iranians and Europeans who are drawn to the Jihad.

Talks with the Quetta Shura will do nothing. The Pakistani Taliban and the splinters further North in Pakistan and on the boarders of Afghanistan have stated that they take no orders or instructions from Quetta. A tribesman in Eastern Afghanistan recently asked my team what part of Russia we were from. He was shocked to find out that there we no Russian forces in Afghanistan. It is clear that information of the invading force has not changed much.

A democracy in Afghanistan is not the answer. The sweeping label of democracy suits many countries and is the best system we have to ensure a fair government. Afghanistan is not one of these countries yet.

We are arming the Afghan Security Forces who will become the enemy. We are fuelling a desire to join the Jihad. We are failing to educate the next generation of Afghans. We build schools but fail to employ an education system. The politicians are killing our troops to ensure the Afghan Forces are better prepared for the pull out. The politicians are making a clear statement - Your children, your husbands, wives and parents are being sacrificed to ensure the Afghan people have a short lived "democracy".

Was your sons death a price worth paying? Were my friends lives a price worth paying? For me, no.

Conference: Afghanistan and the War on Terror 10 Years On

Conway Hall • Red Lion Square • London WC1R 4RL. Tickets £5. To book call 020 7801 2768

SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Tony Benn • George Galloway • Tariq Ali • Lindsey German • David Swanson • Pankaj Mishra • Mehdi Hasan • Joan Humphries • David Gentleman   More details...