It seems to me most unlikely that the Taliban could have

It seems to me most unlikely that the Taliban could have held on to power if they had really been so small a minority, and it is unwise to assume that the opinions they held have melted away like snow in the sun.In the present climate, it would not be a bad idea to start paying serious attention to the increasing incidence of rapid and brutal assaults on isolated government representatives, and on international organisations. These events, which have been on the increase recently, may not be the last sputters of a dying fire; they may represent the same thing as Akbar’s successful and brutal raids on isolated British troops during the interregnum of 1839-1842. It should be of great concern that very few of the irregular forces have been tempted to enlist in the new national army; it should act as a warning that very few communities outside Kabul were prepared to permit women to lay aside their burkhas.In short, I think something terrible may be about to occur in the near future in Afghanistan. I think, just as in other proposed and actual American episodes, they have exercised imperial power without the slightest intention of accepting imperial responsibilities But responsibility cannot be evaded. What they may be about to take responsibility for, in Afghanistan, are events which they have not properly envisaged, and which may wreak terrible destruction on the country, and what remains of the credibility of their foreign policy.p.hensher independent.co.uk
More from Philip Hensher.

And now Iraq has to be put back together. Most of the commentary about the reconstruction has focused on three areas: the need for humanitarian relief, who gets the reconstruction contracts, and who controls the oil. These matter enormously, of course, but beyond these there is the greater prize: the creation of a stable and prosperous economy for the Iraqi people

And now Iraq has to be put back together. Iraq currently has an income per head estimated at $3,600 (£2,300) a year, similar to that of Egypt or Morocco. But there is no reason why its 23 million people should not have an income three or four times that level.

This is not at all a basket case – it should become one of the richest countries of the Middle East. The question is: how to get there from here?The first stage must of course be to get basic public services working again. Here there is the need both for immediate humanitarian relief and for investment to repair damage from the war. But overlaying these is the need for a civic administration to oversee law and order. The sooner order returns, the sooner the condition of Iraqi citizens can be improved.In practical terms – and given public safety – this is the easiest bit. It is at least very clear what needs to be done, and the world has huge experience, sadly necessary, of providing humanitarian relief.The second stage is more difficult because it involves re-establishing the apparatus of a modern state. There has to be a functioning and acceptable currency, there has to be a tax-collecting system, there has to be a budget, there has to be a civil police force – and so on There is now quite a lot of experience of that too.

We have learnt a lot from the experience in Bosnia and Kosovo. But there is no single model and Iraq will of necessity be different from previous exercises.In one sense it should be easier, for the new governing authority will quite quickly have access to revenues from oil. It has been much harder, for example, in Kosovo, where there was no single source of revenue. And until the governing body has its own funds it will not be able to exert its own authority.In another sense it will be harder.