THESE are desperately sad times in Afghanistan and it is impossible not to look at the mess that we are leaving behind, and the 1,000 unfortunate souls on our list that we have been unable to get out, with shame.

This is not to blame our soldiers, and those of the US, who have been involved in a remarkable and brave evacuation effort – we have extricated about 8,000 people, the Americans 111,000 – or ministers, like Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, have strained every sinew to do all they can.

But we had a huge moral obligation to help those who helped us, and we also had a moral obligation to those whose country we intervened in, and we have failed to meet those obligations.

Sadly, we now see that we are not a global player, and that our “special relationship” does not allow us to have any influence on the Americans in the big decisions.

We do not know what forces our withdrawal is unleashing. Already it has proven costly: America had not lost a soldier since February 2020 in Afghanistan but has now lost a dozen in leaving; it looks as if for safety reasons, America may soon have to work with its enemy, the Taliban, to defeat the Taliban’s enemy, the super-militant Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K).

The withdrawal leaves the West a less safe place, the Middle East in turmoil, Afghanistan immersed in civil war, and Russia, China and IS-K emboldened. This is a shameful weekend.