Better Luck Next Time

After the deaths of four hundred and fifty-four Britons and fifty thousand largely ungrateful expendables, our latest famous victory in the fight to civilise those barbarians on the margins of the Raj will conclude this weekend. Amid an understandably sparse degree of rah-rah, the last foreign fighters will sneak out of Afghanistan despite, or in Oldspeak because of the forces of the Taliban once more becoming stronger. US troops are departing in time for Independence Day, Her Majesty's Government having condescended to give permission as a courtesy to our colonial allies while deciding, with typically independent can-do pluck and gumption, to flee the scene of the disaster at approximately the same time. A few mercenaries may be left behind to ensure that the British embassy in Kabul upholds the necessary values, but it remains as yet unclear whether on this occasion God really put the proper effort into matching us with His hour.