There is an unwelcome sense of déjà vu when one looks at TV pictures of Taliban in the streets of Kabul, and in the very office of the former President Ghani (who fled in a helicopter with bags of cash, according to some reports). They grin triumphantly at the camera – and who can blame them? They scarcely had to fire a shot to reclaim mastery of the country that the Western Alliance took over in 2001.
Joe Biden is drawing strong criticism over the shambles. Yet though it’s true he took the decision to pull US troops out now, the decision to withdraw had been made much earlier. US combat operations ceased as long ago as 2014, and it was Donald Trump who said that America would pull out fully from Afghanistan. Biden inherited the problem from Trump, who inherited it from Obama, who inherited it from Bush.
Biden has said that he stands by his decision. He also said that he thought the Afghan National Army might have put up more of a fight. He might have added, Or any fight at all might have been nice. Instead it seems many units simply came to an agreement with the Taliban to lay down their arms (or hand them over to the Taliban – thanks very much; must be some good kit there, paid for by the US). Is it just me that thinks that these Afghan soldiers, who were trained and funded by the West for years, have displayed the most abject cowardice? I understand that some of them had not been paid (or properly supplied by their abysmal Government) for a while, so that may explain some of it, but even so, to cave in as they have done seems pretty contemptible. It’s not like the British and Americans just handed them some guns and ammo and said, ‘There you go – enjoy.’ They must have given them some training; and the Afghan army know the language and terrain of the country, so should have been able to put up some sort of defence of the hard-won freedom that the West secured for them.
In 1940, when Britain faced the greatest threat to its existence in its history, men and women answered the call to arms. They didn’t just crumble and hand the country over to Hitler: they fought back. If they hadn’t done, Nazism would have prevailed.
There is no doubt that the US withdrawal was mishandled. Some kind of continued support and presence in Afghanistan should have been put in place. After all, a Taliban comeback was entirely predictable. As their saying goes, ‘You have the watches. But we have the time.’ But if the West is to continue to hold Afghanistan’s hand, that has to be paid for – and by whom? It should not just be the US taxpayer – or the UK taxpayer. The cost should be shared by wealthy countries (some of whom have no military presence…Is it not time that the embargoes placed on Germany and Japan having their own armed forces after WW2 now be lifted? Both are wealthy, populous countries with a proven track record of military prowess, even if not always for the right cause…But that’s another debate).
If we in the West really believe in the values of freedom, democracy, free speech, freedom of worship, equal rights for women and minorities etc etc, perhaps we should put our money where our mouth is. Well, in fact the US has forked out a reported trillion dollars on Afghanistan, while even Britain has coughed up the more modest sum of £36 billion. Polls show that 70% or more of US citizens don’t want to keep paying in – and I’m not sure I blame them. But look what happens when you stop paying your sub.
There is always the possibility too that, not all that deep down, some Afghans do not really want to become westernized – though I expect that if this is a view, it is one more strongly held by Afghan men than by women. The identity politics which has bedevilled the West may also be active in the East. I wonder how much stick the Afghan army and police are taking (to say nothing of the death threats) from their Taliban compeers for having abandoned their Afghan identity, shaving off their beards and becoming lapdogs of the Americans?
There is a financial (and a human) cost in supporting Afghanistan. As taxpayers, we need to accept that the money we work hard to earn, and then hand some of it back to the Government, can be spent on a multitude of things. It might be spent on the NHS, or in funding a covid vaccine. Or it might be spent on a new royal yacht or refurbishing Buckingham Palace, or on continuing to fund Prince Andrew. Or it might be spent on a new aircraft carrier. Or it might be spent on paying the police or binmen or on filling in potholes or on paying management consultants. Or it might be spent on new (US built) tanks that don’t work properly, or new (Japanese built) trains that don’t work properly. I could go on – there are so many ways of spending tax money! But if we want to spread ‘Western values’, which will ultimately make the world a slightly better and safer place, then we have to be prepared for some of that cash to be spent on Afghanistan, and other less happier lands than our own. If we don’t we’ll be back to square one, and a new Osama Bin Laden could decide to make his home in the caves and mountains of that country. And the last time that happened, it didn’t end well.