The Guardian view on the Afghan evacuation: a governmental disaster and human tragedy | Editorial
A damning report by the Commons foreign affairs committee exposes the full scale of failure by ministers and officials
The excoriating parliamentary report on Britain’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan is such a lengthy catalogue of failure that it is far quicker to say what was done well: there were heroic efforts by individuals, working under enormous pressure, to save lives. Unfortunately, as the inquiry by the Commons foreign affairs committee – chaired by the Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat – makes clear, they were utterly let down by both ministers and top officials. It describes the British withdrawal as a disaster and a betrayal, and is particularly damning about the evacuations.
Politicians and senior officials showed too little interest, were absent at key moments, took inadequate or misguided action and failed to record what they did. MPs found that the “chaotic and arbitrary” Foreign Office response probably cost hundreds of people their chance to leave, and thus is likely to have cost lives. Yet those who are to blame have utterly failed to take responsibility. Indeed, when challenged, the Foreign Office provided answers that “in our judgment, are at best intentionally evasive, and often deliberately misleading”.
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