An Inquiry by MPs has found that the UK’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last year was a betrayal. And will damage the nation’s interests for years.
London (UK)- The Taliban quickly took over Afghanistan, likely costing lives soon after the withdrawal of the UK. Mismanagement of the evacuation helped the Taliban to turn back. There were “systemic failures” of intelligence, diplomacy and planning.
The UK government said “intensive planning” went into the withdrawal. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office defended the findings. He said they would review and respond to the committee’s findings. But the MPs who carried out the inquiry said they had lost confidence in the department’s top civil servant and urged him to consider his position.
The report said Sir Philip, the then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Prime Minister Boris Johnson were all on leave when the Taliban took Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
“The Foreign Office’s senior leaders were on holiday when Kabul fell marks a fundamental lack of seriousness. Grip or leadership at a national emergency,” the cross-party committee said.
Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said the report “highlights the scale of the government’s incompetence, laziness and mishandling” of the withdrawal.
“The Conservative government has badly let down Britain’s reputation on the global stage. And those responsible for this calamity should be held accountable,” he said.
MP’s Report
The report brings back the sense of horror and, for some, shame generated by last August’s traumatic evacuation from Kabul.
It was always inevitable that ministers and senior officials were going to be lambasted. During the committee’s hearings, MPs expressed their dismay. That the Foreign Office’s top civil servant hadn’t seen fit to return from holiday until the civilian evacuation was over.
And it was clear that they found some of the answers they received evasive and unconvincing.
Some will argue that the speed of the Taliban’s takeover of the country could not have been anticipated. Made planning for such a complex evacuation impossible without causing widespread panic.
It’s not an argument that cuts much ice with the MPs. They say there was plenty of time to make plans and that what happened was a betrayal that will haunt the UK’s international reputation for years.
In September 2021, the committee launched an inquiry to consider the role of the FCDO in the build-up to, during and after the withdrawal.
The committee published its findings on Tuesday in a report, which “identified systemic failures of intelligence, diplomacy, planning and preparation – many of which were due, at least in part, to the Foreign Office”.
In key findings, the report said:
On planning for withdrawal
- The government “failed effectively to shape or respond to” the US’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, which was known since February 2020
- The FCDO “failed to make the necessary preparations for withdrawal” by laying the groundwork for an evacuation with third countries
- There was a “total absence of a plan for evacuating Afghans who supported the UK mission, without being directly employed by the UK government”
On the evacuation
- This “mismanagement” of the evacuation in a crucial period “likely cost hundreds of people. And their chance to leave the country and as a result likely cost lives”
- The fact that FCDO’s top civil servant did not return from leave until the civilian evacuation was over. And it “is difficult to understand, impossible to excuse”
- The FCDO gave the committee answers that were “often deliberately misleading”. In response to questions about the decision to evacuate animals looked after by the charity Nowzad
On the future relationship with Afghanistan
- Attempts to isolate the Taliban “may only worsen the situation for the Afghan people. Reduce the UK’s influence. And leave a vacuum to powers such as China”
- The primary UK policy goal in Afghanistan “should be to reduce the impact of the humanitarian disaster unleashed by the international withdrawal”
- The withdrawal has “serious implications for British security and has “heightened the terror threat” from Afghanistan