If war is a psychological game as much as a military one, this week in Afghanistan we suffered one of our biggest set-backs. The numbers add up to a painful equation. Six men dead. The single largest loss of British life in a single incident in Afghanistan since 2006. The roll-call of British men lost to this war tipping over 400. The sums left a nation in shock and thrust the issue of Britain's involvement in Afghanistan back onto the front pages.
Everyone here plays a game of I spy when they are out and about. The idea is that you are trying to work out which of the 200,000 Toyota Corollas in front of you is loaded with fertilizer and ball bearings. It's not quite like the version of the game you played with your parents when stuck on the M6 trying to holiday in the lakes.