What is Dominic Raab’s Afghanistan strategy? He should tell us – The Yorkshire Post says

THE disturbing events in Afghanistan are unfolding so rapidly that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s failure to interrupt his holiday to make contact with his counterpart in Kabul 10 days ago before the country’s takeover by the Taliban now appears to be ancient history.
By YP Comment
Published 22nd Aug 2021, 16:42 BST
Handout photo dated 20/08/21 issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of members of the British (left) and US military engaged in the evacuation of people out of Kabul, Afghanistan.Handout photo dated 20/08/21 issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of members of the British (left) and US military engaged in the evacuation of people out of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Handout photo dated 20/08/21 issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of members of the British (left) and US military engaged in the evacuation of people out of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Yet, while there will need to be a limited inquiry into the intelligence failures that preceded this crisis, the response of Ministers and wider concerns about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s leadership, the immediate priority remains the evacuation of UK nationals and local people who have assisted British troops for nearly 20 years.

Dominc Raab betrays experience of soldier MPs amid Cabinet reshuffle calls – The Yorkshire Post says

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With reports of Afghans people being suffocated to death in the piercing heat as soldiers from the UK and other Western nations try to organise the evacuation, it would be reassuring to know that Mr Raab – and also Boris Johnson – are exerting sufficient diplomatic pressure to make this possible.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab remains under pressure over the Afghanistan crisis.Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab remains under pressure over the Afghanistan crisis.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab remains under pressure over the Afghanistan crisis.

And given how this crisis has left British and American foreign policy in disarray, with Defence Secretary Ben Wallace once again renewing his grim warning that there will be deserving people who don’t make it out of Afghanistan in time, it would be helpful if the PM and Foreign Secretary started providing more regular updates to the nation.

After all, the Government spent £2.6m of taxpayers’ money of public meeting on a Downing Street briefing room. Why not use it to demonstrate the work that Mr Raab has apparently been undertaking and to make an even more persuasive case for Britain to accept Afghan refugees? All the near-silence suggests is that the Foreign Secretary is still not on top of his brief.

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Related topics:Dominic RaabAfghanistanBen WallaceYorkshire PostTaliban

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