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1981: Thatcher tells Afghan fundamentalists “The hearts of the free world are with you”

As UK and other western citizens flee Afghanistan and the UK government denies asylum on racist grounds to Afghans who served, a look 40 years ago shows the UK government’s opportunism

The US and UK are fleeing Afghanistan after decades of military and corporate presence , leaving the Taliban to overrun the country, with the fall of Kabul expected in the coming days and scenes of US and UK personnel evacuating their stations in scenes reminiscent of Saigon in 1975:

As UK citizens are flown out of the country, the racist UK government has said, according to senior military sources, that it doesn’t want to give refuge to most of the many Afghans who served as interpreters and other support for UK forces, in case it encourages other asylum-seekers to come to the UK:

Yet forty years ago, the Tory government was telling the same fundamentalist factions that “the hearts of the free world are with” what were then termed ‘resistance fighters’ against Soviet forces:

Left activist ToryFibs summed up the shambles neatly:

The US and UK are running away from a monster their adventurism and opportunism helped create – and as ever when elites pursue their shortsighted interests, ordinary people are left to face the consequences.

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