Laurie Bristow: 20-year absence of Afghan political solution to blame for Taliban takeover

The failure to bring the Taliban into the political settlement for Afghanistan is the main reason why the hardline group can bring down the Western-supported Afghan government last summer, the former Ambassador in Kabul Britain.

Laurie Bristow, who helped oversee Kabul Airlift last August because the Taliban confiscated the country, also said the West did not understand quite well how the loyalty of the army could be built in the context of Afghanistan. He spoke in relation to the collapse of a trained Afghan military, and soldiers who stood and did not fight the Taliban when quickly took over Afghanistan.

I think at the end of what day we didn’t do in 20 years, it was to find a way to bring the Taliban into Afghanistan’s future,” Bristow told a webinar organized by bright blue thinking tanks.

They are Afghans. They did not represent all Afghans, they did not represent all Afghan people. But they are important constituencies.

And I think if I want to identify – maybe you can call it error – our biggest mistake is not finding ways to take them to political settlements,” said Mr Bristow.

After the fall of the capital of Afghanistan and with the Taliban outside the gate of Kabul Airport, Bristow led the evacuation of British citizens and vulnerable Afghans. His efforts and his team are widely praised.

Bristow said there were many Afghan soldiers who had struggled very hard and brave before the Taliban advance. But he also admitted that other people had put their hands “and went to the Taliban”.

I think looking back, one of the things that caused it – and if we look at our own roles in this matter – we don’t understand enough how loyalty is built in such situations.

If you try to create a national army that can stand in the Taliban, where is his loyalty lying? Does the loyalty lie to the central government? Do they lie with a local leader? Do they lie with their own community?

david waker

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