THIS is an anniversary of a humiliating debacle: the chaotic withdrawal by the US and its allies, including Britain, from Afghanistan. As Robert Fox points out on this page, the withdrawal itself was an unedifying scramble and this was in keeping with the way the war in and occupation of Afghanistan was conducted — that is, without any clear idea of its objective.
Was it the pursuit and capture of Osama bin Laden? He was eventually run to ground in Pakistan. Was it to keep al Qaeda out of Afghanistan? We now know they are back in Kabul itself. Was it nation-building? That endeavour collapsed after the withdrawal of Western troops with remarkable rapidity, the most shocking aspect being the speed of the disintegration of the Afghan army which the UK had helped train.
