The foreign secretary’s evasions are typical of a government that cannot take responsibility for its actions
When judging a government’s performance in a crisis, there is a distinction to be drawn between control and responsibility. No British minister could have stopped the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. But there was time for contingency planning between that unilateral US policy being declared in February 2020 and its completion last month. Dominic Raab could not control the Taliban’s advance on Kabul, but that does not excuse him from responsibility for a chaotic and incomplete evacuation.
In an appearance before a parliamentary select committee on Wednesday, the foreign secretary sought cover behind intelligence assessments predicting a slower decay of the situation in Afghanistan, with the capital not falling this year.
