I am no apologist for the murderers of the Taliban. It was only a few years ago their regime stoned women who they kept illiterate and housebound and broke stone walls over homosexuals. The foreign forces, after a series of blunders and war crimes, must leave. The Mayor of Kabul's jurisdiction will likely shrink further, and do so quickly. History had shown that invading Afghanistan had failed for the British and Russians. The reluctant support of the US for the rebels from 1985 helped create highly technologically advanced extremist groups. This needed to be considered much more closely before the invasion we bayed for. At this point the West can only consider smarter ways to support the victims of tyrannical regimes in the future. It is all sadness! Talk of withdrawing victoriously by the likes of Abbott, Labor apologists from the PM down and the mainstream press reeks of the most macabre populism. It is a time for anger at ourselves for following the opportunistic infection of our leaders and sadness for the lost souls and those yet to be lost in Afghanistan. We need thought beyond 30 second sound bytes before we take the moral high ground in the affairs of others. And yes, as is true, for the Tamils ( and on and on), we turn these victims away sending them back to their deaths from our borders and our " sun struck gulags" * ( Thom Keneally's description of our concentration camps.)
