The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is an inglorious moment

Editorial: There seems little point in dressing up the colossal failure and waste of life in this conflict

The US-led invasion began in October 2001 (Getty)

As America and its allies start to finally pull out of Afghanistan, they leave behind a job unfinished.

The invasion may not have been about “nation-building”. It was primarily designed to be a punitive exercise to wipe out the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks. But all that has been achieved is to leave the country in an even worse state than it was in 2001, with the Taliban poised to make a comeback.

It is an inglorious moment. Afghanistan may have been an unwinnable war, an expensive one ($1 trillion and counting) and one that cost more lives and took more time than most thought possible.