From that Sunday Times article it sounds as if the political elite has worked itself up into a right lather over this. If they can't see why an extended presence in Afghanistan would have been futile, even in retrospect, then the extent of delusion is worse than I'd thought. Ironically they're exhibiting exactly the failings that got us into this mess, dug us deeper into it and kept us there for another decade. Time for a deep breath and a step back, folks: downgrading the US-UK security relationship over a long-overdue strategic decision in Afghanistan (albeit a very badly implemented one) would be the ultimate own goal. I hesitate to adopt such a clichéd turn of phrase, but it would be "exactly what Xi and Putin want".