The government’s treatment of Afghan heroes continues to be unforgivable

Editorial: A commando who served with British forces has been left languishing in a Worcester hotel for a year and a half

The United Kingdom has given sanctuary to about 25,000 people from Afghanistan since the withdrawal from Kabul (PA)

The Independent’s position on Britain’s role in the US-led intervention in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021 has been nuanced. We backed the initial phase, of supporting the Afghan Northern Alliance in its overthrow of the Taliban. The Taliban’s sheltering of Osama bin Laden was an affront to the rule of international law.

We recognised that a government better representing the people of Afghanistan would need outside support for a long time. That support was provided, and a great deal was achieved in the 20 years, especially in the education and empowerment of girls and women. However, it became clear that the military strategy for holding the Taliban at bay was flawed, and The Independent became an early advocate of the withdrawal of Western combat forces.

The actual withdrawal – of forces that by then were in an almost exclusively support role – was handled badly by the US administration of Joe Biden, although it had been put in a difficult position by the reckless setting of an exit date by the outgoing Donald Trump. Better US statecraft might have been able to sustain a non-Taliban government in Kabul indefinitely without Western troops in combat roles.