General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of Defence Staff, says ‘everyone got it wrong’ over the speed with which the Taliban took over Afghanistan and that ‘we didn’t realise what they were up to’ on the deals the Taliban struck with local officials and military officers which lead to opposition melting away.
Shame that, because it’s the way business has been conducted within the geographical area known as Afghanistan since….forever. Alliances are made and broken, bribes offered and accepted, sides changed daily. But I can understand how the intelligence agencies of all of NATO’s members can miss this, since you need to be a historian to work it out. Or simply to have read George MacDonald Fraser’s magnificent Flashman, which deals with the first Afghan war in the 1840s and, weaponry involved aside, could pass as a description of recent events - except that it’s very funny and brilliantly researched. And involved intelligence.
Blame game continuing. Johnson said the collapse of the Afghan government was very predictable a couple of days ago, contradicting his Chief of Defence Staff and Foreign Secretary. But no one cares anyway, so he can say what he likes. Today he will be concentrating on getting the young to pay for my imminently required social care. Even if he gets away with this gigantic con I won’t be voting for the fat gammony twat.