WHO would have thought it? One of the most unlikely heroes to emerge from the growing catastrophe in Afghanistan has been Rory Stewart, one-time candidate for the Tory leadership – and one of the few people who said they would not serve under Boris Johnson and meant it.
His fierce attacks on Johnson and Biden’s policies – “insanity” was one of his milder terms – have gone viral. They’re a masterclass for Johnson on why it helps to know what you’re talking about.
He does know, because after all, Rory the former Tory walked across Afghanistan and wrote a best-selling award-winning book about it, called The Places in Between.
Stewart also spent three years in the country setting up and running a foundation to help the Afghan people. So when Rory says the best thing for the Afghan people was to keep British and US troops there, you have to listen.
He added that not doing so was tantamount to handing “them over to the Taliban”.
Stewart suggested that to expect Afghan forces to fight without western support was just plain wrong because they were not sufficiently equipped to do so.
He added: “If you’re genuinely asking them to put up a suicidal fight when the United States and Britain were not even prepared to keep 2500 soldiers and some planes in the country, with zero casualties, zero risk over the last few years... this has been an extraordinary betrayal.”
One of his claims might yet cause Biden more trouble: “The United States provided all the air support for the Afghans.
“They didn’t just take their own planes away. They took away 16,000 civilian contractors who were maintaining the Afghan helicopters.”
Stewart even committed the unpardonable crime of losing his cool on Question Time when he berated a fellow panellist for misrepresenting the situation in Afghanistan before the withdrawal – and people queued up on Twitter to back him.
Yes, this son of a Scot is a Unionist, but for having the courage of his convictions and telling Johnson off, the Jouker has to salute him.
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