Willie Rennie reports on his visit to Afghanistan in July with the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.

10.08.32am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 7th Sep 2006

Almost all the heroin on the streets of West Fife is cultivated in Afghanistan. Hence my visit with the House of Commons Defence Committee to the country was especially relevant. My colleagues and I visited the region to find out for ourselves how this crucial military mission was progressing so that we can make recommendations to help make Afghanistan a more stable and secure nation for all its people - and ours.

The recent deaths of British troops in the country bring the issue sharply into focus for us back home but the problems are deep rooted and long standing. Afghanistan has had its fair selection of invaders over the centuries. From King Darius, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British, the Russians, the Soviet Union, the US and the Taleban. Currently very underdeveloped it will be some time before this country is able to enjoy the health, education and standards of living that many other countries simply take for granted.

Our effort has shifted to the south of the country as part of the United Nations sanctioned, NATO led mission to reconstruct the country. As part of that reconstruction our respected and highly effective troops are charged with improving the security situation so the work of a host of organisations can begin.

Our first meeting in the week long visit was with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. An impressive communicator, the President set out the challenges he and his fellow countrymen face from relations with India to the difficulties in Balochistan to the anti-drugs effort. Many of Pakistan's problems are Afghanistan's too. Pakistan is crucial in the battle to build a stable and safe Afghanistan which will never return to the hands of the extremists.

After two days of meetings with the head of military intelligence, military operations, anti-narcotics force and the Foreign Minister my fellow MPs and I headed for a three-day visit to Afghanistan. We held meetings with the complex range of UK, NATO and American military chiefs; the UK Department for International Development in Kabul; and visited the British bases in Helmand and Kandahar in the south of the country.

Sergeant Major Brian Brocklehurst from Kelty was a key figure at the highly regarded officer training school for the Afghan National Army. After explaining another section of the highly organised and efficient school he asked "Happy?" But I suspected it was more of an instruction than a question. Like any respectable Sergeant Major he wasn't too bothered if we were happy or not! Sergeant Major Brocklehurst is typical of the high standard of troops serving in Afghanistan.

During our time there several suicide bombs were set off in Kabul and there was a missile attack on the Kandahar air base. Sadly a British soldier was also killed in Helmand. It will be a difficult mission and a troubled one as the deaths of our brave troops have already shown.