Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks catalyzed the war in Afghanistan, British veterans are voicing profound disillusionment, describing their service and the sacrifices made as a "pointless waste of time." The conflict, initiated as part of the "war on terror" following Al Qaeda's deadly assaults, saw Western allies engaged for two decades.
Despite the extensive military commitment, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan within ten days of NATO's withdrawal in August 2021. The current regime has imposed severe restrictions, including barring women and girls from education, suppressing free press, and reportedly subjecting critics to torture and executions. The right to a fair trial is said to be non-existent.
During the war, 457 British soldiers were killed and approximately 2,000 were wounded. Many more have suffered from PTSD or faced homelessness. Veterans now reflect that the country appears to be in a worse state than before the conflict began.
Ben McBean, a former Royal Marine Commando who lost a leg and an arm to an IED explosion in 2008, stated, "I'm proud of what we did on the ground but the whole thing was an absolute waste of time because we have nothing to show for it." He observed that while coalition forces were present, Afghans had freedoms, including girls attending school, which are now absent. "We spent 20 years wasting money on the war only for the Taliban to take Afghanistan back to the way it was before," McBean added.
Gemma Gardner, who served in Afghanistan in 2009, recounted witnessing soldiers being brought into medical tents with severe injuries from IEDs and seeing British soldiers repatriated in coffins daily. "I feel that unfortunately we at the time had signed up to serve "Queen and Country" and were paid to do a job, not question why. But a lot of us are now out of the Armed Forces and we have opinions," Gardner said. She expressed a sense of hurt and pain over the war, questioning its ultimate value given the lives lost.
Jack Cummings, a former Royal Engineers sapper, lost both his legs above the knee in a 2010 IED explosion. He described his experience as "heartbreaking" to see Afghanistan in a worse state than before the war. Cummings feels "pure frustration and anger" over the Western abandonment of the country, noting that the progress made, such as granting women and children the right to education, has been undone by Taliban rule. He also suggested that politicians have forgotten the sacrifices of British troops.
Britain invested approximately £22.2 billion in the Afghanistan war, while the U.S. invested over $2 trillion. The rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's swift takeover in 2021 led to the abandonment of significant amounts of Western military equipment, some of which is now reportedly used by Taliban fighters. The withdrawal also left many Afghan civilians under the control of the oppressive regime, with human rights, particularly for women and the press, significantly curtailed. Reports from organizations like Amnesty International detail a lack of fair trials and a deepening humanitarian crisis.