A YLE poll of representatives of local chapters of the national association of former and active peacekeepers found none in favour of withdrawing Finnish troops from Afghanistan, but a few who questioned whether or not the effort still qualifies as a peacekeeping operation.

Responses were gathered from 28 of the 30 local chapters in the association.

A much larger group expressed the opinion that despite the tough circumstances under which they are working, Finnish troops really are keeping the peace in Afghanistan. A contentious point is a public debate over whether or not Finland is at war in Afghanistan. The majority of respondents gave a resounding, "no" to that question.

"Often the hardest pressures come from the home front. For many of the servicemen, it's tough when a wife or girlfriend asks if they were waging war over there," says Henry Helakorpi, chairman of the Oulu Region Peacekeepers group.

Helakorpi, who himself returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan last August, stresses that an open discussion of the situation there is important, but he and many like him, think that media coverage over-emphasizes dangerous incidents. The day-to-day work of reconstruction and gaining the trust of the local population gets far less attention.

There are other image issues that concern peacekeepers. Many point out that it should be remembered that all those serving are volunteers. They also stress that the experience gained in international operations by reservists and professional soldiers helps boost national defence capabilities.

For this reason, many of the respondents said they would like to see an expanded Finnish presence, including independent responsibility for an operational area. At present, the Finnish contingent is part of a joint Swedish-Finnish command.

Also, past and present peacekeepers believe that taking sole responsibility for an area of operations would make it easier to keep the peace and built trust.