Originally Posted by
skua
Well worth reading Tugendhat's Twitter thread.
Clearly he is far too sensible to be a Cabinet minister.
James Clapper (former USAF Lt Gen and Obama's intelligence director) was on Radio 4 at lunchtime and told it how it is. Having seen Biden up close and personal as VP, he said this moment has been telegraphed and this outcome has been inevitable for well over a decade, under three successive US presidents. I'll try to find it on BBC Sounds and post a link. (Edit:
here, 27:30 in)
The choice facing Trump and then Biden was not a simple stay or go. There was no status quo stay option; the only alternative to 'go' was 'escalate' as the Taliban resurgence would have eventually forced the West to resume a full combat role. It is frankly embarrassing to hear Ben Wallace trying to drop 100% of the blame on the US by claiming that he tried to rally the international community to support a continuing presence and pointing the finger at Trump, which he thinks allows him a free hit.
I heard Tugendhat on the radio. He offers no credible end state and in the light of the above his argument boils down to a straightforward sunk cost fallacy. Sorry to be blunt but having served on HERRICK I feel entitled to be.
Now, expect political and academic recriminations as the 'interventionist' foreign policy lobby tries to blame and heap moral shame on the 'realist' lobby for pushing (and winning the argument for) withdrawal. To me that's like an arsonist blaming and shaming the fire brigade for causing water damage.