Afghanistan: Who originally supported Trump’s deal with the Taliban?
Aug. 20, 2021
The deal – secured by Donald Trump and signed in Doha, Qatar, in February 2020 – committed to the withdrawal of US and allied (including British) troops from Afghanistan by May 2021.
In the same deal were broad obligations on the Taliban to take steps to prevent groups including al-Qaeda from threatening the security of the US and its allies.
After his election, US President Joe Biden continued the plan for withdrawal but with an end date of 31 August.
Continue reading at www.bbc.com
UK politicians decry Joe Biden’s defence of Afghanistan pullout
Aug. 17, 2021
Joe Biden has come under fire from senior British politicians over his defence for withdrawing forces from Afghanistan, with Keir Starmer calling it a “catastrophic error of judgment”.
A defiant US president insisted on Monday that he stood squarely behind the decision to quickly pull out troops, despite the swift offensive by the Taliban. He said: “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. That’s why we’re still there. We were clear-eyed about the risk.”
Biden’s claim that the US and its allies gave Afghans “every chance to determine their own future” but ultimately “could not provide them with the will to fight for that future” drew criticism from senior Tory MPs, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Continue reading at www.theguardian.com
Photograph: EPA
