AMN / WEB DESK
Former US President George W. Bush, whose administration began the US-led war against the Taliban in 2001 has labeled the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan “a mistake,” saying he fears for the fate of women in Afghanistan after troops leave the country.
In an interview with DW, George W. Bush said: “I’m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm,” he said, adding that he was also concerned for translators and other people who gave support to foreign troops in Afghanistan. “They’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart.”
Bush’s comments refer to the hardline Islamic Taliban that are making sweeping gains across the country amid the drawdown of US and NATO forces, set to be complete by September — 20 years after the war began.
The former US president sent troops to Afghanistan in autumn 2001, following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States. Bush added that he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel “feels the same way” about the pullout.
US and NATO forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan in early May.
The US military said recently that its ongoing troop withdrawal is more than 90% complete and President Joe Biden said it would be complete by August 31.
At the end of June, Germany announced it had withdrawn all troops from the country and closed its consulate general in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.
Italy has also declared the end of its mission in Afghanistan and Poland has already brought all its troops home.
US and NATO troops on July 2 vacated the symbolic Bagram Air Base in Kabul, which was once the epicenter of the US military’s operations in the country.
Historians may debate the political legacy of the US mission in Afghanistan. But the physical legacy is clear in the massive amounts of scrap metal and trash left behind. The US military’s exit from Bagram Air Base is part of Washington’s plans to completely withdraw troops from Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Political and military control have been handed to the Afghan government, which was meant to be carrying out peace talks with the Taliban.
But the Taliban have been carrying out an offensive, particularly in Afghanistan’s rural areas, bringing more territories under their control.