Bulletguy Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 A Foreign Office official has described how Raab allowed the office to descend into chaos and became "dysfunctional" during the evacuation of Afghanistan under his tenure as Foreign Sec. Chaos, failure to allocate resources, fatal delays at critical times, and a lack of communication in Whitehall severely damaged the British government’s Afghan evacuation operation. Tens of thousands of pleas for help from those under threat went unanswered in a system incapable of handling the situation, said a former Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office official. Some of those who were abandoned were subsequently murdered by the Taliban and other Islamist groups. Raphael Marshall, who worked as a desk officer during the crisis, described how for one afternoon in the middle of the airlift he found himself as the only one monitoring the Afghan Special Cases Inbox when thousands of requests for help, from government ministers, MPs and charities, as well as Afghans, were pouring in. He estimated that between 75,000 and 150,000 people, including dependents, applied for evacuation. “Fewer than 5 per cent of those received any assistance” with the consequence that “it is clear that some of those left behind have since been murdered by the Taliban”, Mr Marshall said. Giving evidence to an inquiry into the Afghan evacuation by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Marshall claimed Dominic Raab, then foreign secretary, took several hours to deal with cases which needed his approval as the window for the airlift was coming to a close. Mr Raab, he says, then stipulated through his private office that he needed “all the cases set out in a well-presented table to make decisions”. The foreign secretary’s “choice to cause a delay” when time was running out for people to get to Kabul airport “suggests he did not understand the desperate situation”, Mr Marshall said. https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/afghanistan-evacuation-uk-whistleblower-b1970925.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Cabinet seems to have been chosen solely on its loyalty to Johnson & Brexit :-S Lets hope they don't take us into any more military adventures. Our lads can't expect any support from the locals who have seen how we treat the Afghans who supported us :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 John52 - 2021-12-07 4:32 PM Cabinet seems to have been chosen solely on its loyalty to Johnson & Brexit :-S Lets hope they don't take us into any more military adventures. Our lads can't expect any support from the locals who have seen how we treat the Afghans who supported us :-( Apparently Raab was busy paddle boarding on holiday in Crete which he denies saying "the sea was closed". Meantime Johnson prioritised an airlift of 170 stray dogs and cats from a rescue centre run by a former Royal Marine. Less than 5% of Afghans received help. https://news.sky.com/story/afghanistan-whistleblower-eight-key-accusations-made-by-ex-foreign-office-worker-12488859 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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