The West fights on in Afghanistan, afraid of the price of defeat
Islamic State's victories in Iraq have shown Western policy makers that they must continue to wage a losing battle.
Monday 29 January 2018 12:17, UK
It has been a particularly bloody few days in Afghanistan even by that country's tragic standards.
The attack on an international hotel leaving 22 dead, the 122 killed in a suicide bomb attack using an ambulance in the centre of the city.
And now an attack on a military base which has killed at least 11.
The intensity of attacks is shocking but nothing has fundamentally changed.
The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the first two attacks, remains hell-bent on destabilising the country and its government, in order to have a chance at replacing it again.
And in the chaos, Islamic State, which claims the latest incident, is able to thrive.
:: Have your say: Was the war in Afghanistan worth it?
The western project in Afghanistan is now 17 years old - longer than the Russian presence there in the 80s, rivalling the length of America's involvement in Vietnam.
Despite the trillions spent and countless lives lost, the security situation remains perilous.
Rampant corruption, government ineptitude and the appeal of the Taliban have afforded it the space in which to operate to lethal effect.
Kabul continues to be a hellish place to live.
The risk of attack or bombing means it is impossible to lead a normal life there.
And the attacks have managed to strike at what should be some of its safest places.
There is a clear strategy to the Taliban's attacks.
It hopes to reduce the morale and fighting spirit of the Afghan security forces so they are no longer able to defend the capital.
The same approach, after all, prompted the wholesale flight of the Iraqi army as IS forces swept out of Syria and across swathes of Iraq a few years ago.
The challenge for the west, primarily America, is reversing a losing battle.
Afghanistan has proven itself incapable of being stabilised and yet the price of defeat and retreat for the US and its allies is too great.
The only alternative for Western policymakers, it seems, is pressing ahead with a mission that does not seem to be working.