Afghanistan: From Great Game to Blame Game

INSIDE BRIEFING with Institute for Government

The Western intervention in Afghanistan has petered out in ignominy. Who will carry the can for Britain’s biggest foreign policy disaster in half a century? As the Foreign Office and MoD squabble, is Dominic Raab telling the truth when he blames military intelligence for this fiasco? And what does an introverted America mean for NATO and the security of the West?

We look at the fallout with special guests Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian’s Defence and Security Editor, and Lucy Fisher, Deputy Political Editor at the Daily Telegraph and former Defence Editor at the Times.

• “The West is completely shellshocked by America’s decision to withdraw on its own timetable… This has huge repercussions for NATO which is already hanging by a thread.” – Lucy Fisher
• “If Britain had decided to commit more troops as America leaves, would the British people really have gone for it?” – Dan Sabbagh
• “The raw intelligence was absolutely correct, that the Taliban would be fast and ruthless But as it went up the food chain it went wildly wrong.” – Lucy Fisher
• “There are two ways the intelligence could have got diluted. One is overt politicisation, the other is treating it as TOO authoritative.” – Alex Thomas
• “My jaw was on the floor when I read that Raab and his senior team had not made a single call to the Afghan or Pakistani foreign ministries in six months.” – Lucy Fisher
• “There’s a clear winner here – Ben Wallace and the MoD – and a clear loser, Dominic Raab and the Foreign Office.” – Dan Sabbagh

Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Alex Thomas. Audio production by Alex Rees. Inside Briefing is a Podmasters Production for the IfG.

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk

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