The war against terror has been my life for the last two decades. I’ve lived it in both politics and the Army. It has been something I witnessed on the battlefield and in government. And it is something that I feel every day in my personal life. With the death of Sir David Amess (a Conservative MP), the shadow of fanaticism is once more over us.
My brother Jonathan, who was one of the 200 victims of an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group during the Bali bombings in 2002 was murdered. I had to drive 8,000 miles just to find his remains.
This question has been with me since I was a teenager: What purpose did Jonathan’s death and the deaths of all others have? I was the brother who’d joined the Army and saw active service. I was the one who signed up to be put in harm’s way. Jonathan, however, was a teacher at an international conference on education who was fatally shot.
He’d been catching up with teachers from other schools at a busy Irish Bar in Kuta, a beach town on the Indonesian island of Bali, when two suicide bombers struck in deadly succession – a cruelty that ensured survivors of the first blast would be cut down in the second.
Tobias Ellwood, Tory MP and shook hands in the Taliban’s presence – even though his brother was killed by the terrorist organisation
Jonathan and Tobias are pictured as kids. In the Bali bombings of 2002, terrorists murdered Tobias, Tory MP.
So I am, perhaps, the last person you’d expect to meet – let alone attempt to understand – the people who gave Al Qaeda sanctuary and support. They are the people who do everything they can to hinder international efforts to restore stability and freedom in Afghanistan. For the last two decades, hundreds of British soldiers have been killed or maimed.
Last month I was in Doha (the capital of Qatar) when the Grand Sheraton Hotel hosted me. It was the first time in 15 years that I had met the Taliban.
It’s a particular irony that I was in Qatar as part of a parliamentary delegation which was headed by fellow MP David Amess. David had a long-standing fascination with the Middle East. David helped organize the meeting via the Qatari government. This Qatari government has been hosting the Taliban leadership over the past ten year. David was just days from being a terrorist victim.
There is no greater contrast than the Sheraton’s gaudy splendor and Afghan dust shacks.
However, the Taliban have come to Doha in order to prove that they can be trusted. They want us convinced that an Afghan government is possible for Afghans. They are worthy of a spot in the larger world. They will convince us that their intentions are good. And they need large amounts of money – our money.
As I entered the conference room, there were four people talking to each other. I was greeted by four men in black and white, each wearing turbans. At least they’d left the AK-47s in Kabul.
Amir Khan Muttaqi (the largest among the four), welcomed me via an interpreter. We sat facing each other on a large wooden table and took our seats. He thanked me and then went on to explain why I was here.
‘The terrorists who you harboured and defended in Afghanistan were the terrorists who orchestrated the 2002 Bali bombing that killed more than 200 innocent victims, including my brother Jonathan,’ I said.
Photographed in Kabul by the Taliban. They have been building up their base for several weeks.
‘Can you assure me the Taliban will not allow this to happen again?’ The smile faded. This was very personal.
After the death of my brother, 2002 was the beginning of a twelve-year journey that took me to Afghanistan and across the Middle East. Understanding the violent Islam I see is what drives fanatics to take over planes and use suicide vests.
However, there are even greater stakes because after twenty years of bloodshed this simple truth remains: Even though we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, despite fighting IS, despite being attacked in Britain ourselves, our answer is not to extremist warfare that now terrorizes the West.
We must understand the thoughts of people such as Taliban and make sure they are understood by us. Afghanistan today is at the edge of collapse. A large part of Afghanistan’s middle class is now exiled. US authorities have frozen all its assets internationally. There are urgent solutions for the Taliban.
One cannot doubt the severity of the situation when Afghans sell their children to buy food for themselves and other family members. In a country as poor as it is mountainous, winter is fast approaching.
To promote moderate values, Amir Khan Muttaqi, a smiling Amir Khan Muttaqi was appointed principal negotiator to the West.
Yet even he admitted this to me: if the Taliban – or, more accurately, an alliance of Taliban factions – are in charge, they are not fully in control. Many of their ‘soldiers’ do as they choose, killing and violating those with whom they disagree.
The Taliban knows that if it does depart from a ruthless interpretation of Sharia law, more radical elements could defect to the regional arm of IS – ISIS-K – which is already destabilising parts of the country.
As I said, however, the Taliban leadership would not survive a year if the same mistakes are repeated and it tries to control the population. Afghanistan’s situation has changed dramatically, especially in cities where the new generation is enjoying modern freedoms. It is impossible to crush the people as they are now.
Jon Ellwood (pictured) was killed in an attack on Bali, Indonesia by terrorists targeting holidaymakers
Taliban must allow international access and freedom to all agencies of the international community. This includes groups such as Halo Trust who are specialists in mine-clearance.
According to Muttaqi, ‘they are welcome and they will be safe and you are welcome to visit’.
As for my brother and the others who died with him – what was the Taliban’s response?
Muttaqi said that attacks like the Bali bombing on civilians are wrong and can’t be considered Islamic.
He promised me that all efforts would be made for the elimination of terrorist organizations from Afghanistan. I trusted him. We both know that some Taliban ranks are carrying out reprisals. I’ll wait a little longer before accepting his invitation to pay a visit.
Given their cruelty, is it betrayal for us to be able to converse with them in civility or even be together? It felt that way. However, meetings such as this have to happen regardless of our feelings.
I’d lived with armed terror in Northern Ireland, where I served with the Royal Green Jackets and where the killing only stopped with dialogue.Then there was March 22, 2017. Khalid Masood, a rent car driver who drove at high speed over Westminster Bridge killed five people and injured more than 50 others. He continued to walk through Westminster Gates, stabbing PC Keith Palmer, before being shot dead by a security officer.
Several of us there attempted to save Keith’s life. We pumped Keith’s chest for 30 minutes, trying to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The killer was only yards away. We couldn’t save him.
Our Parliament was now under attack from Islamic radicalisation.
We’d already seen the London Tube and bus bombings in July 2005, dreadful events that made it clear Islamic extremism is not just a foreign issue but a British one, too.
That’s why, however nauseating it might seem to some, I’d asked to meet the Taliban.
Talking is the only way to continue our aid for 40 million Afghans who still have not accepted our shameful withdrawal. It is their obligation. Only by speaking out can we stop terrorist groups from rising again.
Britain is a longstanding member of the international diplomatic community. This has contributed to maintaining peace within the West. We have more knowledge about Afghanistan thanks to our past than any other country.
We failed to do so. We didn’t stand up and say so to the Americans that the attempt by them to rule the country from Kabul was doomed. Oder that peace negotiations excluding Afghanistan’s government would fail.
For 20 years, we didn’t bother talking to the Taliban. Little wonder that when Donald Trump did stage peace talks in Doha, we weren’t even at the table.
After two months had passed since the Taliban’s takeover, it fell to me as a mere politician to hold the first meeting between the Afghan government and I.
Is there a government like ours?
It has cost a lot. More than 3,500 Nato soldiers including 450 Britons – and at least 50,000 Afghans – paid with their lives. Many of the servicemen and woman who returned from war suffered severe injuries. Many, now utterly confused, ask ‘what was it all for’?
It is not possible for us to leave this way. Our Islamist opponents have been encouraged by this humiliating defeat, which was our own monumental goal. For without a stable Afghanistan, we can have no peace – and the same principle applies elsewhere.
Only collective international effort and leadership can stop rising threats from Russia and China.
Yet, America continues to withdraw from the international stage and so do we.
Although there was a significant increase in public expenditures, the Budget of the last year saw a reduction in defence budget. That is not sensible or wise. Today, the ideology behind the murder of our dear colleague David Amess, of Keith Palmer and indeed my brother still needs to be addressed – and more than ever.
Although no one is able to explain the 7th Century’s fundamentalism and its relationship with 21st Century modernity, we can try.
While our core values of democracy, freedom, and the rule-of-law are timeless, they still need to be protected.
For a century, we’ve had the means, the desire and the statecraft to help shape the world. Now, however, we have also lost our sense of purpose as the West becomes less interested in shaping the world.
Our times are becoming increasingly difficult. Afghanistan has revealed how fragile we, the West, have become.