Statistics don’t really do a war justice, do they? But nonetheless, we still get bombarded by them – money spent, the amount of helicopters not available, that kind of thing. The latest from Afghanistan is that the death toll of British troops has overtaken the Falklands War. Notice I’m calling the fight for some rocks in the South Atlantic a war, not a conflict, as we were encouraged to do. Soldiers died so that counts as a war in my book, even if it was a short one, and not a long drawn out confrontation as we’re seeing in the deserts of Helmand.

The Falklands War and Afghanistan don’t really seem to have too much in common at first glance, but they will both go down in history as having influenced the fates of two - perhaps even three -  British Prime Ministers. I can remember the Falklands War very clearly. Those cheeky Argentinens had restated their claim to Las Malvinas, and by George, the Iron Lady wasn’t going to take that lying down. Flag waving crowds cheered as the Taskforce set sail from Southampton and the country rallied round because...well..er,...we hadn’t had a proper crack at Johnny Foreigner for a good while (Ireland didn’t really count, you see, that’s just West Britain) and well, they started it, what....

It was a proper fight, with newspapers whipping up the jingoistic fervour, particularly through the sinking of the Belgrano which we now know was like the cowboy in the black hat shooting the sheriff when his back was turned, the Welsh Guards becoming national heroes for the first time since Rorke’s Drift and yomping becoming a viable way to walk.

So 74 days later it was all over. More than twice as many Argentines dead as Britons, the Falkland Islands safely back under the protection of the Union Flag, even though there had been moves in Whitehall to quietly let the islands go just before the fleet sailed, and there was a nice little boost at the polls for Thatcher.

Whoa, there it is, the wee sneaky bit at the end. Thatcher knew exactly what she was doing. Let’s face it, Argentina, while regularly whipping Scotland and England on the football pitch, were no match in military terms and Mrs T needed a bit of a boost with an election coming up. Nothing like a bit of blood spilled by our boys in an away win to ensure a good show at the ballot box, is there?

Gordon Brown now finds himself as a Prime Minister, leading the country in an unpopular war, and leading the country towards a General Election where, whether he likes it or not, Afghanistan is going to be a huge influence on how people vote. But where Thatcher had the cheering crowds with their flags, the current government has had millions taking to the streets in anti-war protests. Where Thatcher had the media whipping up a frenzy, we’ve had newspaper pages filled with the photographs of dead British soldiers.

There’s no such thing as a “good war”, but Thatcher managed to pick one that worked out well for her. She took on another country, beat them and offered that result to the country’s voters, who responded by putting her back in power with a landslide majority in 1983. Gordon Brown is picking up the tail end of the War on Terror that Tony Blair and George W Bush started. I imagine that if he had the choice to make again, he might think twice about committing Britain to such a costly and probably “unwinnable” war.

There won’t be any simple end to this fight. There won’t be flags flying over Governor’s homes and prisoner exchanges. Osama bin Laden is unlikely to be paraded in front of the cameras as a captive. It’s doubtful if he’ll ever be caught.
So when Brown squares up to David Cameron later this year, Afghanistan is going to weigh heavily in voters’ minds. We know the economy is screwed and the banks are at it, but what can we do about that? Just give Broon a kick for the dead soldiers. This war isn’t going to offer salvation at the polling stations for this prime mInister.

Cameron is already on the offensive, but so far hasn’t played the “War Card” in the battle for Number 10 – but he will. It’s a tricky one though. I wonder if he’s been looking at Thatcher’s “Rejoice” speech during the Falklands War. He’d do well not too watch it too many times. Thatcher had the people onside. Neither Brown nor Cameron can say the same thing about Afghanistan.

David Coyle was the winner of stv.tv's 'Write Factor' competition. His view do not necessarily represent those of STVplc