Afghanistan, what now? After a week of death and retaliation in the country, it appears that a car bomb has been detonated on the runway at Camp Bastion — probably aimed at the visiting US Secretary of Defence, Leon Panetta. A spokesman has since said that ‘at no point was anyone on board Mr Panetta’s plane at risk,’ but it certainly highlights the dangers attached to his visit. What chance, now, that he will be successful in his goal of ‘easing tensions’?
The incident cropped up very briefly in David Cameron and Barack Obama’s press conference just now. Asked for further information by Sky’s Joey Jones, the PM stressed that ‘details are still coming through,’ and moved onto talking about how the situation in Afghanistan has improved over the last five years. Obama talked only about the more general situation, concluding that ‘we will be able to achieve our objectives by 2014’.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in