What worries me is that those desperate to support this Government are willing to believe that the fault lies in America. That Mr Raab may not have been at his best but, they say, our Government did nothing wrong. They are going along with the unsubstantiated "fact" that Biden is mentally ill. These briefings to the media are, of course, coming from the Conservative party and from Tony Blair.
Does this help the people in Afghanistan? Or is it just covering up some of our politicians' inability to do the job. There has been deterioration in British-American relations because of this briefing by the UK against America. Who is that helping? Those trying to get out of Afghanistan? I don't think so. Our current politicians and a maverick? It certainly suits their purpose.
We were indeed surprised by how the Americans are pulling out. Our Government did not see the dissatisfaction the American people had in remaining in Afghanistan. Nor did they foresee the collapse of the Afghan army. That was a failure on the part of our Offices of State. The Foreign Office is supposed to understand the culture of other countries. They should not have put us in a position where the actions of another country cause us to fail. It is difficult to tell if the Defence Department had warned and was ignored by the PM, or if there was not sufficient knowledge about the Afghan army. Either way, the Government has again let down our troops and the country.
All the briefings against Biden and the call for the US to extend the deadline are not going to help Afghanistan one iota. They are just an attempt to absolve our Government. A Government which, yet again, is in dereliction of duty to this country. A Government yet again, being incompetent and unprofessional.
