The Republicans are having a delightful time in the midst of human suffering, blaming President Joe Biden for the Afghanistan fiasco. President George W. Bush, then-VP Dick Cheney, and then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield whipped up the nation-building which failed so miserably. Then, President Biden was left with no good alternatives after Donald Trump negotiated an appalling deal with the Taliban. POTUS extended Trump’s impossible deadline and found support not only within our country but in the UK.
Trump did not include the Afghan government in his 2019 talks with the Taliban. He agreed to release many of the Taliban prisoners if they stopped attacking US forces, that is it. In 2020, Trump announced a broader agreement that included the US leaving Afghanistan by May 2021. President Biden pushed the date back to September 11, according to The Washington Post.
Referring to the Doha agreement that Donald Trump negotiated with the Taliban, British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said, according to The Daily Sabah:
‘I felt that that was a mistake to have done it that way, that we’ll all as an international community probably pay the consequences of that.’
Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said, according to The Independent:
‘We bear a major responsibility for this. It began under President Trump when he authorised negotiations between the US and the Taliban without the Afghan government in the room.’
‘That was a key Taliban demand, and we acceded to it, and it was a huge demoralizing factor for the Afghan government and its security focus.’
He said that the agreement that the ex-president signed left Britain with zero alternatives but to withdraw its troops. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Trump set in motion the withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan.
Former International Development Minister Rory Stewart said pulling out the troops was “a total betrayal by the US and by the UK.” It could result in a civil war between the rival warlords and the Taliban.
Conservative MP and former veterans minister who served in Afghanistan, Johnny Mercer told Times Radio that this withdrawal was “a disgrace.”
‘I think it’s humiliating for the UK military, for the families who lost individuals over there but above all it’s a huge tragedy for the people of Afghanistan, who’ve been through so much over so many years. We’ve chosen this defeat and it’s shameful.’
Wallace said it would have 600 troops to evacuate British nationals from the war-torn country to help 750 British repatriates. They estimated that there were currently 3,000 British nationals. Wallace continued saying that “leaves a very big problem on the ground,” and gives the momentum to the Taliban terrorists. The British ambassador was also on-site helping to process the visas of Afghans who had worked for Britain.
Wallace warned that this action would “lead to a security threat to us and our interests:”
‘I’m absolutely worried that failed states are breeding grounds for those types of people. Of course, Al-Qaeda will probably come back.’
The defense minister predicted it would benefit al-Qaida, who were given safe haven by the Taliban prior to the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 that began “the West’s 20-year involvement in Afghanistan.”
Foreign Affairs Select Committee in Parliament Chair, Tom Tugendhat, told the BBC:
‘We’ve just pulled the rug from under them (Afghans).’
The Conservative member of the U.K. Parliament added that Britain needed to send in more troops to facilitate its withdrawal, which was was “a sure sign of failure.”
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