UK Lawmakers Slam Government Role in Afghan Withdrawal ‘Disaster’

Members of the UK Armed Forces continue to take part in the evacuation of entitled personnel from Kabul airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 19-22, 2021, in this picture obtained by Reuters, on Aug. 23, 2021. LPhot Ben Shread/UK MOD Crown copyright 2021/Handout via Reuters

Britain’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last year was a “disaster” in which British soldiers and their Afghan allies were “utterly let down by deep failures of leadership” in the UK government, a Parliamentary committee has said.

In a damning report (pdf) published on May 24, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons said the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been “a disaster in terms of planning, execution, and consequences for the UK’s wider interests.”