Afghanistan

Why were we and the Americans in Afghanistan in the first place? Revenge for 9/11 and to get Bin Laden! Not always the best reason to go to war. Afghanistan has bugger all of use to us. Yes, it's a breeding ground of anti-Western fundamentalism, but precisely because we marched in there in the first place and decided to stay there.

Perhaps we should have learned a lesson from Edward I and his wars with the Welsh hill tribes - build a network of huge castles and hand them over to Normal overlords (the Normans were rather fierce and loved nothing better than a bit of butchery). The only problem there is that the castles were located on the coast for ease of supply by sea - and Afghanistan is landlocked.

What was the objective after punishment of the Taliban? If it was to instil the country with democratic values, then the prerequisite for that is eliminating corruption. Even Russia hasn't managed to do that, and we're falling back into it big time. You can't instantly democratise a corrupt population - any attempt to do so will result in a corrupt dictatorship.

The only manner in which Afghanistan could be democratised is to remain there in perpetuity. Is it worth it in terms of lives lost and financial cost, when we get very little in return?

I think the West is best out of the place. It's a local problem that requires a local solution - but the countries surrounding Afghanistan are just as corrupt and so can't solve it either.

Yes, human rights will be violated and generations of women will not get an education, but the cost of doing something about this is huge and requires a completely novel approach that doesn't risk lives. What that solution is, I have no idea. Until we have that solution, then we should stay out.

Someone on social media asked whether the Afghan refugees we're taking into the UK will be Covid tested. Afghanistan has a total of 372 cases, and declining. We have 28,000 and increasing. They're in more danger from us than we are from them. That, however, depends on the accuracy of their Covid stats.