An Afghan chapter closes, but new dangers threaten the world

American and British forces are finally out of Afghanistan, along with thousands of desperate Afghans who assisted them in some capacity during the past 20 years of fighting the Taliban. 

But left behind were many other ex-employees, now in hiding and terrified of what the new regime of strict Islamists will do if they find them. 

It is an unhappy situation at best, shaming at worst, especially for Britain, whose long history of military involvement in Afghanistan should surely have acted as a red light.

A quick dip into the past shows three unavailing Anglo-Afghan wars in the days of empire between 1839 and 1919. Was it wise to go back in 2001, even with the worthwhile aim of stifling the threat of international terrorism? The 20 years since then cost the lives of 457 British soldiers, just to end up back where we started. 

The Taliban leaders have promised their rule will not be as it was when they were last in power, from 1996 to 2001, when they terrorised Afghans, reduced women to second-class status, silenced music and sought to eradicate all Western influence. 

Most observers believe the promise is a pious hope and question whether the Taliban’s political leaders are able to control the actions of their commanders in the field. 

While the Afghanistan situation has dominated the news agenda morning, noon and night, it is only part of an international scenario that offers little to be optimistic about… the pandemic, which seems to go on and on, faltering economies, corruption in many countries and continuing racism. 

Plus, of course, the weather. Consider these facts: 

Sicily has recorded a temperature of 48.8C, the highest in European history; one of Iceland’s largest glaciers is melting at a rate of 25 metres in length every month; in Africa, deadly floods have hit Benin, Sudan, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana; parts of the UK, including London, experienced a month’s worth of rain in two days; the US Forest Service said it is operating “in crisis mode” to contain wildfires threatening whole towns. 

All of this during 2021, with the year far from ended. If the sceptics are not convinced of the threat of climate change now, I fear they never will be. 

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Do you ever get mad, as I do, at modern designers who put aesthetics (or their idea of what looks good) ahead of simple practicality? 

The handles on my bathroom cabinet are two, smooth rounded shapes, like elongated melons. Because my fingers are invariably wet when I try to open the cabinet, they slip off these metal knobs and I have to prise the doors open with my fingernails. Hook-type handles would do the job. Too easy? Not pretty? 

As for labels on foodstuffs, medication and the like, not only is the print usually microscopically small, it is often in colour and impossible to read without a magnifying glass. Black print does not work on a coloured background, indeed on any background except white. Have the designers never noticed? 

White print is much the same. I have just been trying to read the booklet accompanying a CD. One section is white lettering on a brown background, the other, white on a green background. Very cute, but in both cases, next to invisible! 

I will skip over the agony of opening foil-covered bottles and ring-pull cans, not to mention popping pills out of those pestiferous metal strips (why do mine always shoot under the kitchen sink?). 

Now consider items which are packaged in such a way as to conceal, unintentionally, I’m sure, the whole contents. My preference is for shirts with a breast pocket, but many packets do not make the whole of the shirt front visible, so I cannot tell. 

Finally, CDs again. I want to buy church music but I am not a Latinist or a music scholar and I need to read the English words or translations of the hymns, Psalms or whatever. A simple question: Are the words included in the accompanying booklet? The outside of the disc does not say and it’s not possible to open the item and check. Thus the company loses a sale because nobody has thought through what the customer needs to know.