The public dismay, disappointment and despair (not to mention rage) surrounding the news of yesterday's attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul is understandable and entirely legitimate. But focusing on what has gone before, to the extent that we ignore what must come next, is exactly the wrong thing to do. Enquiries, hand-wringing (and hand-washing), recriminations and general political 'ducking and weaving' will come - and, indeed, have already started. But there are considerations that now need to be taken into account in a mature, grown-up, common-sense and above all pragmatic rethink about how to resolve the international security conundrum that is Afghanistan and the Taliban. Maybe - just maybe - it is time for politicians to recognize their true role is in giving clear, unequivocal instructions to their armed forces, providing those forces with the tools to do the job properly, then stepping back and resisting the temptation to micro-manage or, indeed, to keep 'moving the goalposts.'
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