Afghanistan and the delusions of the political class

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Immediately’s Home of Commons debate on Afghanistan gave us a stark perception into the delusions and self-importance of our political class.

This was an ‘emergency’ debate on occasions that had already occurred in Kabul, which in flip resulted from choices already taken in Washington, DC.

The controversy was by no means going to result in any various plan of action. But when something this appeared to push MPs to do much more grandstanding than regular.

The realities of the conflict or the boundaries of British energy have been barely talked about. Some delusional Tory MPs even tried to argue that the British Military may have occupied Afghanistan in America’s place to assist maintain the Taliban at bay.

They spoke warmly of the West’s nation-building venture, as if it had not simply crumbled earlier than their eyes.

The tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan is a humiliation for Western interventionism. However MPs don’t appear to see it that approach. They solely see the necessity for extra intervention, extra occupation and finally extra bloodshed. One thing have to be finished, even when it achieves nothing.

For a lot of the political class, Afghanistan was and all the time might be ‘the nice conflict’. That’s the reason MPs have been so emotional at the moment. Afghanistan gave them a way of function they might now not discover at residence. However it was hardly ‘the nice conflict’ for these left in its wake.

God assist the following nation they attempt to save.

Fraser Myers is assistant editor at spiked and host of the spiked podcast. Observe him on Twitter: @FraserMyers.