Afghanistan - where did it all go wrong?

At the end of the 1800s Conan Doyle said "Afghanistan is a land steeped in blood. "

Then and now.

Wildstrawberry - The Israelis are terrorising the Palestinians - stealing land for illegal settlements. Ceating a prison in which the Palestinians have to live under occupation and siege. They’ll shoot a child for throwing a stone, bomb shelters built by the European Union, and UN relief centres. The Palestinians have no army to retaliate and the world sits by watching genocide.

America relies on a military-industrial based economy. Without war they’ll struggle. Wonder where they’ll go next?

well the uk send arms to afghanistan and so do the americans ..and who knows who else .i wish GB would keep their noses out of other countries business..

An absolutely fascinating and so very true report on the state of Afghanistan and its customs. I always feel that the USA assumes that its 'one size fits all' brand of 'democracy' is the only way to be! This is foolhardy and not for virtually anyone other than they themselves- and the USA has an extremely long way to go in its program of civilization in order to even think about preaching to others on how to live life!!! Their own attitudes to anyone other than white middle class patriots is appallingly shameful their gun laws keep the place like the wild west and their interference in other countries' politics cause havoc and mayhem as they simply don't know how to admit any sort of failure or to accept that they were plain wrong. They are fantastic allies purely from a point of view that they're loaded and have a seemingly bottomless pit of funds for operational purposes and equipment but always want to be leader of any gang even if they haven't a clue. A bit nice but thick?

Bit simplistic. West should stop judging by our warped values.

And-iraq war was started on the lie of WMD s remember? And George W was he'll bent on having a war but needed our support otherwise Congress would never have ok'd it. Nowt to do with "fanatical religion"

Alegrias1

I don't think Johnson has ever looked sympathetic.



Here's an idea....instead of spending money on rail links and big boats, let's spend some money on people. Radical, I know, but there you go...

Here here here here here!! ?

Blair and Bush rushed into Afghanistan after 9/11 without a plan and were egged on by the media constantly demanding retaliation

I can not bear to watch the news currently.
Whilst having empathy with those people desperate to leave their country we have to be mindful of the long term consequences to our own country.
About five years I was working alongside a colleague who had come to the UK from Pakistan.
She adored living here, but mentioned in conversation one afternoon that long term she had big fears about the Taliban and their determination.
I sort of half understood what she meant, but she went on to say that she felt sure within twenty years Britain would be a Muslim state and they could easily arrive here.
Working on the theory that people from Taliban would arrive below the radar and expand here.
After watching the scenes at Kabul airport this week the thought occurred to me in 20 years time if British citizens needed to flee where would we go in our hour of need?
10 days is all it has take them to conquer Afghanistan, while the West didn't seem to notice, intelligence wasn't listened to and also there was the fact that an awful lot of important people are on holiday in August!

I confess to being ignorant of inter-country relationships in that part of the world, but always puzzle why, although we undoubtedly have an obligation to those who are targeted for having worked for our forces, the many who are fearful of oppression under the Taliban are gravitating here to the western fringe of Europe. Whilst as far as I can tell, the Afghan people are not Arabic speakers, they do not speak English either, and they do at least have religion in common with the far closer Middle Eastern countries. I would be most interested to know how many refugees are going to Saudi, Egypt and other relatively settled states in that region, even if Pakistan, Iran and Syria are not peaceful enough to accept them

The West (and not just the UK) playing war games in someone else's country.
The white man making moral decisions in the brown man's country from a position of self-perceived superiority.
For generations after arrogant generations.

I remember the Soviet-Afghan War, and how the West armed the "brave Afghan freedom fighters" to fight the Soviets. I've no idea if those Afghans became Al Qaeda or The Taliban or both but, as others have said, it seemed to come as a surprise to the West when the Afghans didn't want to kowtow to them.

I am horrified by the British's part in the West's part in Afghanistan.
I am horrified at the plight of those Afghans who worked alongside western troops and who must be utterly petrified.
I am horrified at the recruiting power for new terrorist groups that this abandonment will generate, for if in real life it isn't meant to be an abandonment, that must be what it surely feels like.

IMO the Taliban are just warlords by another name - and Afghanistan has always been home to warlords - seeking money and power.

And talking of money, I heard* the other day that a lot of the aid money Afghanistan has been receiving has gone to enrich the politicians who have fled.

*On R4, before anyone suggests that I must have read it in the Daily Mail.

I quite agree with others.

How are we going to fund all these extra refugees.

No one wants to be unsympathetic, but let’s be realistic here.

Refugees from Syria are still arriving by the boatload.
We are a small island compared to other countries.

Of course, Boris and Patel can’t be seen publicly to be saying these things, but a lot of us are thinking them.

Let’s hope sufficient funds are generated for our already cash strapped councils to cope with this disaster.

Witzend
Colonel Bob Stewart went further than that. He named the president that fled as the one who had been stealing the money.

Witzend
Your allowed to quote the Daily Mail when it suits the narrative.
Nudge nudge, no pack drill.

Ailidh

The West (and not just the UK) playing war games in someone else's country.
The white man making moral decisions in the brown man's country from a position of self-perceived superiority.
For generations after arrogant generations.

I remember the Soviet-Afghan War, and how the West armed the "brave Afghan freedom fighters" to fight the Soviets. I've no idea if those Afghans became Al Qaeda or The Taliban or both but, as others have said, it seemed to come as a surprise to the West when the Afghans didn't want to kowtow to them.

I am horrified by the British's part in the West's part in Afghanistan.
I am horrified at the plight of those Afghans who worked alongside western troops and who must be utterly petrified.
I am horrified at the recruiting power for new terrorist groups that this abandonment will generate, for if in real life it isn't meant to be an abandonment, that must be what it surely feels like.

Do tell what part of enabling Education and health care is making moral decisions in the brown mans country. The Afghans served alongside the British and other allies, for one thing, money. Plenty of blue on blue killings showed which side they were really on. Abandonment, so you wanted the US and allies to stay forever, pumping money and lives into a country that hated them. The brown man who ran away and deserted his people and his country, taking all their money with him.. The British combat troops left in 2014. We were helping to train Afghan troops. Lot of good and wasted money that was.

I’d say it all began to go wrong with the first Angl -Afghan war in 1839.

I realise this is somewhat tangential to the post but I am responding to the OPs who feel we should 'look after our own' before others.
According to the Office of National Statistics, roughly 1 million Europeans have left the UK over the last 18 months. We are now feeling the impact of this with severe shortages of skilled and semi-skilled workers. The UK resettlement of 20, 000 Afghan refugees over a 5 year period will not be as “large, real and abrupt” as the loss of our European migrant population. With a declining birth rate and an aging population, surely it’s in our long term interest to welcome these refugees with open arms.

Where are they getting their arms? From anyone who sells them worldwide.

re Blossoming's point from Thurs. evening -
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jb9fn
An interesting historical review by Rory Stewart.

The juxtaposition between radical factions and the rest of the world seems almost impenetrable. As the ideas have now become part of the landscape of “developed” countries, we have worked to be inclusive and tolerant. Does Sharia law really reflect our values? Does marginalation of females belong? Where is a spirit of compromise enter the equation? Until we’re are able to stand firm in this ongoing situation, how can we achieve peaceful coexistence?