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Beyond the media agitation, finger pointing and fake incomprehension
Erudite and committed writings of Tariq Ali on Afghanistan, published at every stage of the calamity, are a illuminating read, suggests ANDREW MURRAY
EARLY WARNING: Stop the War coalition protest in Trafalgar Square in London in 2012

The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan – A Chronicle Foretold
by Tariq Ali
Verso  £10.99

THE return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, amid a chaotic US military evacuation, constitutes the greatest humiliation imperialism has suffered in the 21st century.  

One need be no friend of the social agenda of the Taliban — and few are — to recognise the enormity of its achievement and the reverse for the Nato powers, headed by the US.  

Even in the bloody debacle of Iraq, the aggressors in the 2003 war have been able to organise something like a fighting retreat and retain the capacity for direct interference.  

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