Nobody is right or wrong about Afghanistan!

This week has been dominated by goings on in Afghanistan and opinions are flying in from all corners of the world

I do not believe anyone has got it right or wrong

We all continue to make the same mistakes over and over again

There should never be an acceptable reason for war. If all other forms of engagement or pressure fail, try again. War cannot and must not EVER be on the table.

The folks manufacturing weapons of war should have no fear, carry on doing so. Countries wishing to buy these weapons can continue to do so. Keep stockpiling them, but only as deterrent or bragging right, we should never resort to actual war

On the other side of this equation is religion, interpretation of religious beliefs, religious tolerance and impact of religion on the wider society. I am a strong believer in the existence of God, but I do not believe in religion. Religion and what we say religion demand is largely open to interpretation and has been a very challenging aspect of life. We all have to promote tolerance.

Who stands to gain from the mass displacement of Afghans? NOBODY. Afghanistan is a country where clearly, a majority of the population support the Talibans, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in a position to do what they have done this week. So, shipping thousands of fleeing Afghans over to the US, UK, Canada or where ever else, is not helpful to those Afghans unless majority of people in those countries (i.e. US, UK, Canada etc) want them there and accept that we will have to help them settle and integrate into society. How has that worked out in the last 50+ years? If incumbent natives of those countries do not accept that these unfortunate (fleeing Afghans) folks will have to skip the queue for housing and social care and that we cannot later hate on them for that, DONT BRING THEM IN! To bring them in, to face hate and hardship will only lead to them and their children despising those countries and few years down the road, we’re back to where we are today, with the Windrush crisis in the UK or intolerance between those seen to be foreign (even after 2, 3 generations) and those who believe they have sole right to those countries as natives (which is a little laughable in the case of Americans, Australians and a few other countries formed largely through immigration).

Regardless of the argument, migration CANNOT be via charging down a border or showing up in a canoe across the English Channel or crossing the Mediterranean via inflatable boats and barging in. Whether or not one agrees with the current world order, it is what it is and one or few countries CANNOT take in the population of another country (what of those left behind?). Not every Afghan who disagree with the Taliban will be able to flee right?

I am not going to sit in judgement of the pain and anguish that drives people to risk crossing oceans in bathtubs BUT the world needs to redefine and restructure an approach to refugees to ensure we help desperate people in a manner that avoids them falling into the hands of people-traffickers or exposure to perils such as death in transit vans etc. New rules with international acceptance is urgently needed as the hardship faced by those heading to western nations, where they are seen as a problem, is not worth the trip and illegal migration has led to increase in intolerance and denies help to those truly in need of refuge. But all that is a separate topic on its own, how can we make all parts of the globe worthwhile, so people stop embarking on these perilous trips?

Was America, Britain and others right to withdraw from Afghanistan? YES

Should they have gone there in the first place? NO

Could they have exited in a less chaotic manner? PERHAPS, but this was never ever destined to have a fairytale ending

Those criticising the withdrawal are hypocrites

Could there ever be a time when the Talibans would have been totally defeated and Afghanistan becomes a very bubbly westernised nation? NO. Unless they suddenly found billions of tons of oil in their mountains of course.

If Afghans overwhelmingly do not want the Taliban to rule them, they will make that decision sooner or later

With gun crimes in America, knives in the UK, prisons filled with black people and ongoing discovery of murdered and brutalised native children in Canada, these are hardly examples that countries like Afghanistan should be asked to emulate are they?

If the Talibans takeover Afghanistan as it appears they have, the next reasonable step for the rest of the world is to look at options to engage in dialogue and ways to incentivise them to consider some aspects of western life that honestly do not limit their zeal for their religious beliefs e.g. allow for equality between men & women, allow women to seek education and decide their own destiny, try to allow for other opinions, even if not what they believe in and also avoid harbouring individuals who seek to inflict harm on others (e.g. the west) – that was what started the last war (the world will only be at peace, if nobody is actively trying to harm others) . With time, a great deal can be achieved through engagement and incentives. I am not sure much has been achieved through war to date. Years and years of bloodshed to no avail, and now, possibly years of finger pointing when commonsense is needed. I keep reading about people saying: “is this what we fought for?”, well, sorry, what exactly has the war achieved?

The coming months will undoubtedly be tough for many, but dropping the blame-game to focus on dialogue and incentivisation will yield better results than war or displacement

Mass relocation of fleeing Afghans isn’t going to solve anything either. Will more likely put those folks in harms way and years of putting up with intolerance and hate