In the two-decades long military campaign in Afghanistan, Britain made a vital contribution to the coalition effort to provide the country’s long-suffering people security and stability.
A total of 454 British military personnel lost their lives in the conflict and thousands more suffered serious injury in a campaign that cost the British taxpayer an estimated 22 billion.
And yet, despite the enormous sacrifice, both in terms of blood and treasure, Britain’s involvement is likely to be remembered more for the chaotic nature of its departure than the heroism of its soldiers.
There certainly can be no denying that the legacy of Britain’s costly involvement in the coalition effort has been seriously tarnished as a result of the dramatic testimony provided by a whistleblower this week about the less-than-convincing performance of Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as the Taliban seized control of the country.
Mr Marshall revealed that there were an estimated 150,000 Afghans who were said to be at risk and only 5 per cent were helped
In a damning indictment of the FCDO’s performance during this critical time, Raphael Marshall, a 25-year-old senior desk officer claims its handling of the Afghan evacuation after the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August was dysfunctional and chaotic. He claims the process of choosing who could get a flight out of the country was arbitrary, and that thousands of emails with pleas for help went unread.
Mr Marshall,...
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