Patrick Christys: The Afghan withdrawal has exposed the myth that Joe Biden is a good guy

The word disaster is thrown out there far too often. The final episode of Game of Thrones, David Moyes’ tenure as Manchester United boss or my first forays into the dating scene as a teenager.

I woke up this morning to headlines across the British media describing what’s happening in Afghanistan as a disaster – ‘Disaster as Taliban take control’.

Let’s be very clear on this – the word disaster doesn’t do justice to what’s happening out there. Capitulation, dereliction of duty, humiliation, crime against humanity, impending genocide, humanitarian crisis, all of those words together don’t even scratch the surface.

All of this, in the misguided attempt to bring western democracy to a region that knows only hardline dictatorships or radical religious rule. The arrogance of trying to impose fluffy western values on people with an entirely different culture and outlook on life is sickening – it’s not as if the Afghan Lib Dems are coming out in force. Although there is probably a stronger Liberal Democrat presence in Kabul than there is in Westminster. Ironically, I very much doubt they want to Remain though… We shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

The Afghan withdrawal has exposed the myth that Joe Biden is a good guy. Biden claims to be in charge of the most progressive government in American history – with a record number of women from ethnic minority backgrounds in his cabinet.

But how can Joe Biden claim to care about women or ethnic minorities, or even the poorest in society, when his decision to pull out of Afghanistan and withdraw air support for the Afghan National Army has consigned millions of Afghani women to a life of slavery, rape, no education, and no rights whatsoever?

While the Taliban rolled into Kabul and took control of the Presidential Palace, Dominic Raab was flying back from a holiday he was told not to go on and Joe Biden is on vacation at Camp David…I’m sure the women of Afghanistan will sleep easy tonight knowing that Dominic Raab has got a cracking sun tan and a belly full of poolside mojitos and that sleepy Joe Biden has caught a few z’ds at his luxurious Presidential retreat.

The Taliban is already being spoken about in terms of being a genuine government. It won’t be long before there are Taliban representatives at the United Nations, or at the World Health Organisation…although to be fair that might actually improve the credibility of the WHO.

What’s very telling is that while US and UK officials were being airlifted out of Kabul in scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon, Russian and Chinese officials were moving in. They have ‘good relations’ with the Taliban.

People called Afghanistan an unwinnable war. It’s not unwinnable. China and Russia have won. Without them officially firing a single shot.

We went into Afghanistan to reduce the terror threat on the streets of Britain, improve the lives of the Afgani population, increase our influence in that part of the world. On all counts it failed. We need to stop meddling in those regions. It just doesn’t work.