THE Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan and the west’s role in the situation was debated by columnists in the newspapers.

The Daily Mail

Richard Littlejohn said this was America’s darkest hour since September 11, 2001.

“For once, the fiercely partisan domestic media is united in condemnation of President Joe Biden’s surrender to the Taliban,” he said. “Even Fox News and CNN, normally diametric political opposites, are singing from the same hymn sheet.”

He said the sacrifices of those who fought and died to rid Afghanistan of Al Qaeda now seem worthless.

“The shocking images of Americans fleeing the Taliban will inevitably come back to haunt Biden, just as the broken-down helicopters in the desert during the abortive mission to free US hostages held in Tehran destroyed the presidency of Jimmy Carter,” he said. “Who could have predicted that — having expended so much blood and treasure fighting terrorists — the 20th anniversary of 9/11 would be marked by a US president handing back Afghanistan to the Taliban, the murderous ideological allies and enablers of Al Qaeda who carried out those deadly attacks?”

The Daily Express

Stephen Pollard said one of the many reasons why the West’s surrender to the Taliban ‑’ and that is what it is ‑ is so shameful is that it is not just the Afghans who will pay a terrible price. It is us, too.’

“The resurgence of the Taliban will be inspiration for many Islamist terrorists already in the West, not least because it shows so clearly that, however brave our soldiers may be, our political leaders are spineless,” he said.

“After we have scarpered from Afghanistan in ignominy, why would anyone fear the wrath of the West again? And why would anyone ever trust our word? Biden likes to give an impression of being a commonsense man who is returning the US to normality. But the only way to judge leaders is by their actions, and on this basis he is a dangerous fool who risks all our safety. Shame on him.”

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee said the development ended the west’s ‘grotesque delusion’ that it could use its military might to turn Afghanistan into a stable democracy.

“ In the shadow of New York’s burning twin towers, I was one swept along on that “something must be done” tide, that drumbeat for a war to stop terror and liberate oppressed people,” she said. “We have learned a bitter lesson.

“How deceptively easy was the 2001 victory, as Taliban fighters fled to melt back into their own population famously murmuring, “You have watches, we have time.” They have just turned back the clock on 20 wasted years. And what’s to show for 20 years? Afghanistan entered 2021 with 18.4 million people in humanitarian need.”