Mary Dejevsky

Afghanistan and our amnesia about the horrors of war

A baby is passed over the wall of Kabul airport (photo: Getty)

Of the many harrowing images coming out of Afghanistan, one commandeered public attention for longer than most. It showed a small child being handed to an American soldier over the wall of Kabul airport and demonstrated, shocked viewers were told, the desperation of parents to save their children, even if it meant entrusting them to strangers.

Now two observations might be made about this. The first is that it was not quite as it seemed. It was later reported that the child was ill and was being passed for treatment at a Norwegian medical facility on the other side of the wall. The family were subsequently reunited.

The other is that, even if our initial conclusions had been correct, a parent making the agonising decision to part with a small child as the last best hope of that child’s survival and maybe the chance of a better life is hardly unique to today’s Kabul. It is, alas, one of the eternal images of war. The Jewish parents who entrusted their children to the Kindertransport did so, knowing that they were probably saying goodbye to them for the last time. Indeed, the arrangement required them to accept that they would never be allowed to join them.

A gulf has opened up between those who know first-hand about the reality of war and the vast majority who do not

Nor has the child being passed to a foreign soldier been the only classic image of war to come out of Kabul in recent days. Those of us watching on TV from the distance of safe countries have seen chaotic scenes of people crammed into confined spaces, enduring night upon night without sleep, without food or water; people brandishing documents, clamouring for attention, in eternal hope.

We have seen people waist-deep in sewage, trying to reach officers who can decide their fate; we have heard of crushed bodies, heaped on one side, almost ignored.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in