Yesterday’s Intelligence Squared / Spectator event was a discussion, rather than the usual debate. There was no motion, and panellists presented possible outcomes. Matthew Parris was mischievous, rejecting all analyses except that “Afghanistan is not Britain’s fight”. What was this “nearly third rate power doing there”? Fighting a war “we can’t afford” against a “cultural and religious identity we don’t understand is mad”. Britain was not fighting at the Afghans’ invitation. “Imagine the card: The Afghan people request and require your presence for a limited military occupation.” He predicted that fellow speakers Lords Inge and Ashdown would espouse the Mastermind approach to foreign policy: I’ve started so I’ll finish. The wrong approach because “Afghan warlords employ the same logic to continue the struggle”. Good sense is to recognise mistakes; Britain should “withdraw immediately”.
Field Marshal Lord Inge did indeed assume the mantle of Magnus Magnusson. “We are where we are.
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