The Afghan people have every right to think the UK, like the US, is ‘turning away’

Editorial: Boris Johnson and his ministers have been slow off the mark to respond to what is a humiliation for the UK as well as the US

(Brian Adcock)

Events on the ground in Afghanistan are moving faster than anyone expected. Developments that experts thought might take weeks or months are happening in days as the country falls back into the hands of the Taliban, which is already through the gates of Kabul.

Of course, the collapse of the Afghan authorities and military can be attributed to the United States’ disastrous decision to withdraw its troops by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks next month. The focus on decisions by Donald Trump and then Joe Biden has resulted in remarkably little political debate in the UK – wrongly, since the government joined the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and saw the deaths of 457 service personnel before following the US’s lead in starting to withdraw its troops.

Boris Johnson and his ministers have been slow off the mark to respond to what is a humiliation for the UK as well as the US. In a complacent statement to parliament on 8 July, the prime minister insisted that “we are not about to turn away” from Afghanistan, saying the UK could “take pride” in being part of the effort to stamp out terrorist attacks emanating from the country. The priority now, he said, is to preserve “vital gains” on issues such as girls’ education and women’s rights.