Rory Stewart spent last week on BBC, LBC, and Twitter slamming Britain and America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, yet a quick browse through the archives shows that the former infantry officer himself had questions over the West’s role in Afghanistan.

In a Ted Talk delivered in 2011, Stewart said:

“Why are we still in Afghanistan one decade later? Why are we spending $135 billion? Why have we got 130,000 troops on the ground? Why were more people killed last month than in any preceding month of this conflict? How has this happened?” 

Throughout the talk Stewart implied that the war had been going on for too long and that Britain and America needed to change their approach. He makes a cogent case for US/UK pulling out. It’s a very different case to the one he makes now, mind you. Rory’s Ted Talk was an intelligent critique of staying in Afghanistan, so why the flip-flop? He hasn’t explained his reversal of position…