UK’s Afghan withdrawal failure 'cost lives and betrayed allies'

The Afghan withdrawal was shambolic, it is hard to find any positives from a very bad situation in a very bad war. Despite those odds, the House of Commons has taken a stab at it. 

In a scathing report headed by The Foreign Affairs Committee, MPs have strongly criticised the UK’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, labelling it as a ‘disaster’. The UK’s chaotic withdrawal showed “systemic failures of leadership, planning and preparation.” – A little harsh to suggest the planning was below par when it was non-existent. 

Some may say it’s just lip service and won’t change anything, others, who believe in the parliamentary system will say this is how we hold the government to account. However, the reality of any report is how the government is able to spin it. here come the smokes and mirrors.

After many delays, the report was published on Tuesday, buried under news of the latest Partygate scandal, Texas shooting massacre, Putin’s war and monumental cost of living crisis. I think we call that the smoke! 

The cross-party probe revealed a “fundamental lack of planning, grip or leadership at a time of national emergency”  before and during the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021.

Let’s not forget, that the UK had over 18 months to prepare for withdrawal. The government faced a torrent of criticism over its hurried evacuation – and lack of preparation for how quickly the Taliban would takeover. 

What did they actually achieve? Yvonne Ridley, WTX News Diplomatic editor, was in Afghanistan in May and she has quoted

“When the Taliban swept into power it was almost a bloodless coup that could not have been achieved without the popular will of the Afghan people. Many Western observers find that hard to swallow and difficult to understand because the majority either never left Kabul or travelled in military convoys from one base to another without interacting with ordinary Afghan people in the rural areas.”

The UK’s time in Afghanistan and withdrawal was simply a disaster. Hundreds of people who were eligible for relocation were left behind and left in a life-threatening situations. After documents containing their personal information were left at the abandoned British embassy in Kabul.  

At the time, PM Boris Johnson said the UK’s Afghan withdrawal mission was “unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes” with the UK airlifting over 15,000 people in two weeks. 

The government said it had carried out a “thorough review to learn the lessons” from the withdrawal and it was still “working hard to assist the people [of] Afghanistan, having already helped over 4,600 individuals leave the country since the end of the military evacuation.

”In this week’s IN REVIEW, we’re looking into the report and consequences of the failures of the British government. Click here to read the full report from the House of Commons Committee: “Missing in action: UK leadership and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.”