He continued: “I have been to funerals from Poole to Dunblane. I have watched good men go into the earth, taking with them a part of me and a part of all of us. This week has torn open some of those wounds, has left them raw and left us all hurting.
“And I know it is not just soldiers. I know aid workers and diplomats who feel the same. I know journalists who have been witnesses to our country in its heroic effort to save people from the most horrific fates. I know that we have all been struggling.”
If this recall had done one thing, it had achieved one thing already, he said, explaining that he had spoken to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who he said has already made a commitment to do more for veterans’ mental health.
“This is not just about us. The mission in Afghanistan was not a British mission. It was a NATO mission. It was a recognition that globalisation has changed us all. The phone calls that I am still receiving, the text messages that I have been answering as I have been waiting, putting people in touch with our people in Afghanistan, remind us that we are connected still today, and Afghanistan is not a far country about which we know little.
These connections are with European and all international friends, he said. So it was with “great sadness” that that he felt he had to go on and criticise the United States.
“I was never prouder than when I was decorated by the 82nd Airborne after the capture of Musa Qala. It was a huge privilege to be recognised by such an extraordinary unit in combat. To see their commander-in-chief call into question the courage of men I fought with, to claim that they ran, is shameful. Those who have never fought for the colours they fly should be careful about criticising those who have.”
This was a reference to the speech by President Joe Biden when he attempted to lay blame for the catastrophe, not on the manner of the US withdrawal, but on the Afghans left behind: “Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military gave up, sometimes without trying to fight.”
Tugendhat said: “What we have done in these last few days is demonstrate that it is not armies that win wars. Armies can get tactical victories and operational victories that can hold the line; they can just about make room for peace, make room for people like us to talk, to compromise, to listen. It is nations that make war; nations endure; nations mobilise and muster; nations determine and have patience. Here we have demonstrated, sadly, that we – the west, the United Kingdom – do not.”
This was a harsh lesson for all, he said, but it was possible to work still with partners to hold the line in future, because “we know that patience wins”.
He said: “The cold war was won with patience; Cyprus is at peace, with patience; South Korea, with more than ten times the number of troops that America had in Afghanistan, is prosperous through patience. So let us stop talking about forever wars. Let us recognise that forever peace is bought, not cheaply, but hard, through determination and the will to endure. The tragedy of Afghanistan is that we are swapping that patient achievement for a second fire and a second war.”
After the speech, Sky’s Beth Rigby tweeted. “@TomTugenhadt, who served in Afghanistan, moves the House to silence with his powerful & dignified speech Says he's been struggling with anger, grief and rage. Says Biden's questioning of the Afghan troops he fought with as “shameful” Warns of a ‘second fire and a second war’.”
Sam Leith in The Spectator wrote: “Tugendhat’s emotion was given shape by his mastery of rhetorical technique. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being anthologised and taught in schools.”