We won a war but not hearts in Afghanistan

I read with dismay the articles by Peter Hitchens and Nadene Ghouri last week regarding the debacle that is now Afghanistan.

Whether you like it or not, Western allies were sent in to try to defend the populace from the savagery of the Taliban.

The fact that the Allied-trained Afghan army appears to have collapsed in a matter of weeks proves that we didn’t win the hearts and minds that our politicians told us was the aim, and that the Afghan people don’t want to pick up the banner to defend their land. Until that happens, there is nothing we can do. It may sound defeatist but we have to be realistic.

Barbara Knight, Waltham Abbey, Essex

Losing well over 400 Armed Forces personnel, plus the many hundreds suffering life-changing injuries, seems a high price to pay when we have now simply walked away from Afghanistan.

Philip Codd, Manchester

I wonder how many of the young men running along the runway at Kabul airport are fleeing the Taliban and how many are seeing this as an opportunity for a better life away from Afghanistan?

Denis Hignett, Warrington

Allied soldiers have not died for nothing: for 20 years, millions of women and children had the freedom to work and be educated in a peaceful manner without fear of violence. This is a huge achievement.

Pravin Patel, Birmingham

America’s so-called ‘longest war’ has ended in defeat for the US and its allies, but we must not repeat past historical follies and ensure that we save all the Afghans we can. It is the moral and decent thing to do.

Oliver Steward, Norwich

As sympathetic as I am to the situation in Afghanistan, this country can only take so many refugees. After listening to the Shadow Foreign Secretary, it sounds as if their policy would be to turn the light out and leave the key under the mat for anyone wanting to come to the UK.

Dennis Haslam, Barnsley

It is beyond belief that America and Britain did not know the strength of the Taliban, their positions and how long it would take them to gain significant areas of the country. The excuses stating surprise at the Taliban’s swift movement and capture of major towns and cities is pathetic. America wanted out and that was the order we all obeyed, regardless of consequences.

Gordon Parker, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland

I feel that we have betrayed the Afghan people and those killed freeing the country by pulling out and allowing the militants in. Joe Biden and

Boris Johnson will come to regret this as Afghanistan will become a breeding ground for terrorists.

J. Mckie, Gateshead