Nowzad Evacuation

[Downforce]

On 01/09/2021 at 20:30, WalkedUp said:

I listened to the Jeremy Vine ‘interview’, took a bit of fast forwarding as it was about 37 minutes into his show. It certainly did not warm me to the man, but he did seem much more ‘with it’ than I expected. I suppose given the limited information I know of him I had pictured a very damaged and fragile combat veteran who had turned to animals from the horror of war stereotype. I found Farthing to be polished, composed and calculated. The media training of his PR team oozed through the carefully worded apology he delivered. 

I was saddened to learn that he had left a woman with a newborn baby on the tarmac. One of his own team. He said he had no choice, whilst this is impossible to know there is no reason not to believe him. We all make our own decisions, he has clearly been a brave man previously but leaving that woman and baby in the hands of the Taliban is not the decision I would make, nor one I could live with. I left the interview with no more fact that what we have known from the very outset, I am just more confused about the charismatic leader’s morality and motivations. As a side I found Jeremy didn’t really ask him any searching questions about the wider aspect of distraction in a crisis, it certainly was more ‘Lorraine’ than ‘Today Programme’. Nonetheless thank you Scully for recommending the clip. It is interesting to explore more widely; consider the alternative view and try to see the issue from someone else’s perspective. I appreciate that I am too entrenched in my position (coloured by dislike of the animal fanatics) to give this guy or the endeavour a fair assessment.

All members of the Nowzad staff and their immediate family have been evacuated overland to Pakistan

The UK government were not involved in the overland evacuation of the staff and families (apart from supplying paperwork prior to 31 Aug) and they are now effectively handed over to the British embassy/consulate to bring to UK

Furthermore the Nowzad charity has put funds aside to ensure there’s no overhead on the UK taxpayer in resetting the staff

Meanwhile it was announced today that the MoDs sent an email to around 250 former “partners” (interpreters etc.) stuck in Afghanistan at risk of reprisal with their details including email address and in some cases pictures 

Firstly would you rather have Nowzad team actually getting you out or the MoD team bodging up sending a “supporting” email and putting you in further peril

Secondly taking the decision to leave and not bringing attention to the staff and taking the animals meaning the staff were not tied to Kabul. I’m sure it was a tough decision but probably the most effective one.

Thirdly there were clearly political overtones in the US DoD not allowing the Taliban to permit the Nowzad staff to enter the HKIA airport - e.g. if political pressure hadn’t been in play the staff could have just got on the privately chartered plane with the animals and Pen Farthing (and another empty 150 seats that were offered to anyone else who needed them) and not needed to be left and not needed to be evacuated overland and not needed to rely on the embassy/consulate to look after them 

stupidity in my opinion 

D