The Afghan War Is Lost - Who's Taking The Rap?

There is no single villain. Gordon Brown and David Cameron (suggests Cowper-Coles) meant well; so, even more, did David Miliband. A fortune in money, effort, intelligence and goodwill was squandered in an absurdist circus. He paints Kabul as a city in which foreigners engaged almost exclusively with one another, launching ever-more elaborate holistic strategies to save a nation whose citizens they feared to meet. Spies, diplomats and "tree-hugging" aid workers whirled around with splendid intentions, promising that this time their plans really were joined up and would work. And it never happened.

Full account here.