Ryan Pickrell
Fri, August 13, 2021,
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace. REUTERS/Toby Melville
The UK defense secretary called Trump's deal with the Taliban "rotten."
He told Sky News that it was a "mistake" and that the international community may pay for it.
The Taliban has launched a massive offensive, seizing territory after territory in Afghanistan.
The UK defense secretary said this week that the deal between the Trump administration and the Taliban setting in motion the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan was "rotten," telling Sky News in a rare criticism that the international community would likely "pay the consequences."
"At the time of the Trump deal with, obviously, the Taliban, I felt that that was a mistake to have done it that way," said Ben Wallace, the UK secretary of state for defense. "That, we'll all, as an international community, probably pay the consequences of that."
"I think that deal that was done in Doha was a rotten deal," the secretary said. "It told a Taliban that wasn't winning that they were winning, and it undermined the government of Afghanistan, and now we're in this position where the Taliban have clearly the momentum across the country."
Wallace also expressed concerns Al Qaeda would return, saying that "failed states around the world lead to instability and lead to a security threat to us and our interests."
"I'm absolutely worried that failed states are breeding grounds for those type of people," he said. "Of course I'm worried. It's why I said I felt this was not the right time or decision to make, because, of course, Al Qaeda will probably come back."
In February 2020, the Trump administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban in Doha that was intended to encourage peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government while facilitating the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.
The Biden administration largely upheld that deal, moving forward with plans to withdraw US troops and end the two-decade war in Afghanistan, America's longest conflict.
President Joe Biden said in July that he had trust and confidence in the capability of the Afghan forces. "The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely," he said.
Taliban fighters patrol in the Afghan city of Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, on Friday.
AP Photo/Gulabuddin Amiri
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan was about 95% complete when the Taliban launched a nationwide offensive, seizing city after city. Some US intelligence assessments have suggested Afghanistan could fall in a matter of months, possibly even weeks.
A US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said on Wednesday that the Taliban were violating both the "letter and the spirit" of the Doha agreement, adding that rather than pursuing a "permanent and comprehensive ceasefire," all indications were that "the Taliban are instead pursuing a battlefield victory."
The US has been providing support to the Afghan forces through airstrikes, often targeting captured military equipment, but the messaging from the president and others in the Biden administration is that the Afghan government and military must take the initiative.
The US Defense Department announced on Thursday that in response to the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan it is sending in 3,000 troops to help evacuate US civilian personnel in Kabul. An additional force of about 4,000 troops will be on standby in Kuwait.
The UK armed forces are also sending in hundreds of additional troops to support the evacuation of personnel from Afghanistan.
Former President Donald Trump said in a statement issued Thursday that he could have handled this situation better. He said that the the Taliban "understood that what they are doing now would not have been acceptable, adding that "it would have been a much different and much more successful withdrawal."
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan was about 95% complete when the Taliban launched a nationwide offensive, seizing city after city. Some US intelligence assessments have suggested Afghanistan could fall in a matter of months, possibly even weeks.
A US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said on Wednesday that the Taliban were violating both the "letter and the spirit" of the Doha agreement, adding that rather than pursuing a "permanent and comprehensive ceasefire," all indications were that "the Taliban are instead pursuing a battlefield victory."
The US has been providing support to the Afghan forces through airstrikes, often targeting captured military equipment, but the messaging from the president and others in the Biden administration is that the Afghan government and military must take the initiative.
The US Defense Department announced on Thursday that in response to the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan it is sending in 3,000 troops to help evacuate US civilian personnel in Kabul. An additional force of about 4,000 troops will be on standby in Kuwait.
The UK armed forces are also sending in hundreds of additional troops to support the evacuation of personnel from Afghanistan.
Former President Donald Trump said in a statement issued Thursday that he could have handled this situation better. He said that the the Taliban "understood that what they are doing now would not have been acceptable, adding that "it would have been a much different and much more successful withdrawal."
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