Your letters

Tell us what you think

The attitude of the marines in On The Road With Obama's Boys highlighted why the ­Afghan people so distrust foreign troops. How can we expect 18- to 20-year-old men to help build a secure trust between themselves and local communities when they have such an approach – their statements sounded as if they had come straight from a Rambo film. Yet again, we have ­political leaders making decisions to appease their voting public without looking at the bigger picture. Sending more troops as we approach the winter months, when Taliban resistance is not as strong, may ease the pressure on the local people, but will only ­offer another false dawn.
Stuart Carruthers London W1

There is an alternative "bottom line" solution to winning hearts and minds. The farmers who sell their opium to the ­Taliban could be given a guaranteed market for their crop, which could be processed into ­medical-grade opium for the ­relief of cancer. The Canadian Provincial ­Reconstruction Team is ­already ­running a pilot in Kandahar.
Misha Carder Bath

For all the hubris I normally asso­ciate with US troops, that photograph of them sleeping in grave-shaped pits is horrifying. I had to look twice – they look like corpses.
Graham Ullathorne Lower Pilsley, Derbyshire

Jane Jones Manchester

I am undergoing breast cancer treatment that has so far had a positive outcome. For some unknown reason, my outlook has been naturally ­optimistic, but, like Barbara Ehrenreich (It Makes Me Sick, 2 January), I have come to resent the happy-clappy brigade who demand I stay positive and fight the cancer. I, too, have been lectured on the life-­enriching properties of chemo­therapy, when in my experience all the "benefits" just lead to me feel I am trapped in a body with a sinister strange skin. The normal feelings one experiences as a cancer sufferer, such as anger and grief, are frowned on, with well-wishers urging you to strive to Pollyanna heights of ­optimism. It's my cancer, I will cry if I want to.
Name and address supplied

Your driving instructor needs a job that suits her better (What I'm ­Really Thinking). I used to take learners round Hyde Park Corner just for laughs, and the only fright I ever had was when one ­finally managed an emergency stop and I thought we'd hit something.
Guy King Woodside, Telford

D Lumley (Letters, 9 January) clearly needs to get a life, or a sense of humour. The "wouldn't make my shag list" letter from a ­female reader made me smile, and in our household the female models are viewed in a similar light.
Howard N Hughes New Mills, High Peak, Derbyshire

If my office was in my wardrobe, I think I might re-evaluate my career options.
David Mole Bolton

How does Andrew Anthony manage to write something different about cars week after week? I don't know whether to admire his breadth or despise his superficiality.
Dawn Ashford Sheffield

So Lucy Mangan read 100 books last year, or roughly one every three and a half days. And there was I sympathising with her "reader's block"(12 September). Hmm.
Marjorie Sachs County Roscommon, Ireland

• Want to comment on something you've read in Weekend?

Today's best video

Today in pictures