Those we abandon face a grim life, we must finish the job
The Taliban says the West must stick to the agreed deadline of August 31 to evacuate those wishing to flee Afghanistan (Metro, Wed).
The Taliban has violated the terms of any deal by executing people and not upholding human rights, as well as releasing dangerous terrorists from prison on to the streets.
It seems that they are dictating all the terms and US president Joe Biden has just become their puppet.
The West should insist on remaining, and, if necessary, increase troops until everyone who wishes to leave has left and a stable government been formed.
The West should also be allowed access to regional airports, to enable those who cannot get to Kabul to leave.
Any attempt to prevent this should be dealt with decisively by bombing raids. It is time that the West stood up to this barbaric regime trying to take over the country.
J Smyth, via email
S Gill (MetroTalk, Tue) asks about those who cannot make it to Kabul for a so-called ‘freedom flight’.
They are destined for a wretched existence, especially women. In any case, it’s simply impossible to accommodate millions of refugees.
Mr Biden made it clear there would be no extension to the August 31 deadline for US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban won’t extend it either.
The cruel fact is, Afghanistan has been betrayed – like South Vietnam was in 1975. More than 400 British soldiers have lost their valiant lives for nothing. Ditto, several thousand US troops and thousands of innocent Afghans.
A 20-year campaign has ended in utter rout. Our former prime minister Tony Blair compounded the problem by committing unnecessary resources (and lives) on the illegal 2003 Iraq War instead of concentrating on Afghanistan. He’s the least qualified person to speak out on the issue.
The West will now have to deal with a government in Kabul that shares an ideology with Al Qaeda and Daesh. As for the ‘special relationship’, Afghanistan proves there’s no such thing.
Dominic Shelmerdine, London
Even if Boris Johnson were successful in persuading Mr Biden to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond Tuesday’s deadline, I fear the Taliban would respond with more bloodshed, ironically, with the very weapons the US have left behind.
We are hearing stories of atrocities by the Taliban. All the work, all the lost life has been for nothing – the country is back where it was 20 years ago.
Geoff Hall, Croydon
I cried when I listened to an Afghan woman journalist outside Kabul airport telling us what would happen to her if she stayed and watching the chaos around her. I still do not know if she got out. It’s appalling that thousands will be left behind to suffer retaliation for their service to the British.
Corin, London
However bad this US rearguard action, I challenge anyone to imagine Donald Trump doing it any better back in May, when he originally said it would happen. He would have probably just broken the agreement (par for his course) and then caused a different crisis as he sent nothing more than empty words to save face among his own home supporters.