Only a Fox News presenter could look at the scenes unfolding in Afghanistan and not feel profoundly dismayed. Twenty years of sustained effort, tens of billions of dollars, thousands of lives lost, and we’re left with Taliban 1.01. It’s staggering to think the Americans could spend all that time in the country and entertain such fanciful ideas about what was going to happen if they pulled out in haste.
A more cautious, staged withdrawal might have bought time to shore up the Afghan forces and make plans to evacuate interpreters and others who now face – at best – an uncertain future under the Taliban. One could never expect the Trump regime to do anything cautiously or intelligently but Biden obviously felt he couldn’t risk backtracking or slowing down the process. His decision was based on pleasing middle America – sacrificing the Afghans to domestic Realpolitik. The gigantic mess that has followed has lost him face both at home and abroad. One wonders if Kamala Harris, in Biden’s shoes, would have been so quick to pull out, knowing that women and girls are set to bear the worst of the new regime.
Now we have the Taliban telling us they’re actually Sensitive New Age Fanatics who won’t take revenge on anyone and everyone, and will respect women’s rights. One would have to be of a very trusting persuasion to believe any of this, but it is designed to play well with foreign governments looking for a little political salvation (“See, we made the right decision after all..”.), and with states willing to engage in business arrangements with the Taliban. (“There’s no point in fighting with them, we have to give them a chance..”). In brief, it opens the door to cynical cover-ups and opportunism.
The only positive to be taken from this attempt to project a new image is that it may allow a window for evacuating potential Taliban victims. How this plays out with Scummo is an open question. He’s already expressed his regret that Australia will not be able to evacuate all the Afghans who worked alongside our armed forces. “We wish it were different,” he lamented, with that ghastly ‘concerned’ look on his mug. Well hey! Maybe it can be different. Stop dithering around with the paperwork, get as many people onto planes as possible, and do the sorting out in another country. Surely it’s better to risk bringing along a few unworthy extras rather than allowing your longterm friends and allies to be massacred.
Will this happen? Think back to Scummo’s first moment of political grandstanding when he gloried in “sending back the boats”, even if it meant condemning people to massive danger on the high seas. Think of the $6.7 million spent on mistreating the Murugappan family. It would be out-of-character for this God-fearing man to do the right thing by the Afghans if he could avoid doing anything at all, then pretend it was taken out of his hands. “We wish it were different” – Indeed.
Our leader’s latest piece of Christian charity consists of announcing that Australia will take 3,000 Afghan refugees – a mark of his generosity, considering that Boris Johnson is being attacked in the British parliament, by his own side, for his stinginess in making 20,000 places available. Canada is also taking 20,000 refugees. One dramatic photo from Kabul airport showed 640 Afghans crammed into the hold of an American cargo plane. So far we’ve managed to get out one flight with 26 people – an operation the Minister, Alex Hawke, declared a complete success.
Scummo’s main priority is apparently to alert everyone on a Temporary Protection Visa there wll be no change to their status – meaning they can still be deported to Afghanistan whenever the government sees fit and have no options for to bring their families to Australia. If ever there was an opportunity for this government to show a bit of heart, this is it. Public sentiment is running high in favour of the Afghans but Scummo seems to think we’ll admire him for a display of gratuitous cruelty.
The column this week looks at a problem artist for me – Nicolas Poussin. Although I know folks who worship this classically-inclined Frenchman, I’ve always found his paintings incredibly stiff and unwelcoming. I know they’re supposed to be ‘ideal’ images rather than naturalistic ones but knowing this doesn’t make them any more attractive.
Having ploughed through Richard Verdi’s new book on Poussin, I’ve given him another long look, in a piece that deals, in a glancing way, with cool and hot artists.
I’m even further away from base camp with this week’s movie column, having watched the entire six episodes of Top Secret UFO Projects Declassified on Netflix. It’s an odd series, by turns fascinating and frustrating, aiming at profoundity but settling for a bunch of sci-fi clichés. I can’t say it didn’t get me in, but this was no thanks to the style of the films, which seemed to be designed to appeal to half-wits. Maybe I should take another look in a few weeks. If the lockdown drags on much longer I’ll be in a more receptive state.