Time.news – The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is decided. The American president, Joe Biden, wanted it. “It’s time to end” the longest American war, is the message that the head of the White House wanted to give to the nation. “We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different outcome,” he said in a speech in which he also remembered his beloved son Beau, who passed away 6 years ago, who served in Iraq.
“I am the fourth American president to preside over a US troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats,” he said. “I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth”, is the promise. The war in Afghanistan “claimed the lives of over 2,400 soldiers of the American armed forces “, he noted. The withdrawal will be completed by September 11, twenty years after everything began. But it will not be the end of everything. Because, on the ground, in the best of readings, war is at the stall with a very fragile peace negotiation.
The decision was endorsed by NATO allies at the end of one meeting in Brussels of the foreign and defense ministers of the Atlantic Alliance. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his defense colleague, Lloyd Austin, showed up at the headquarters. The meetings were attended by Minister Luigi Di Maio.
“Recognizing that there is no military solution to the challenges facing Afghanistan, the allies have determined that we will begin the withdrawal of the forces of the Resolute Support Mission by May 1st. This withdrawal will be ordered, coordinated and deliberate. We expect to complete the withdrawal of all US forces and the Resolute Support Mission within a few months. Any Taliban attack on allied troops during this retreat will receive a strong response “, reads the NATO statement at the end of the meeting.
“We agree that a change of pace is needed in Afghanistan,” he summed up the head of the Farnesina, who only two days ago had dealt with the dossier with Blinken during his visit to Washington. “We are moving towards an epochal decision for NATO. A decision that we will obviously take together with our allies and which will concern the presence of the NATO Alliance troops in Afghanistan”, explained Di Maio.
“I would like to say a great one thanks to all the Italian soldiers who are engaged in peacekeeping missions around the world. We thank them and are proud of them. And I would also like to say that we will never abandon the Afghan people that we will continue to help, even more, with development cooperation projects, with support for businesses, support for civil society, the protection of human rights “, Di Maio highlighted. in a message that takes on the tone of farewell.
“This is an important moment for our Alliance. Almost twenty years ago, after the United States was attacked on 9/11, we went together to Afghanistan to look after those who attacked us and to make sure that Afghanistan did not become a a new refuge for terrorists who might attack any of us. And together, we have achieved the goals we set ourselves to achieve. now is the time to bring our troops home, ”Blinken said in his joint statement with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“We will work closely together in the weeks and months to come for a safe, deliberate and coordinated withdrawal of our forces from Afghanistan,” announced the head of US diplomacy.
But it won’t be that simple. Criticism of the American choice is already raining. Inside and outside the US. “Wars don’t end when one side abandons the struggle,” commented the influential Republican representative, Liz Cheney. “Withdrawing our forces from Afghanistan by 11 September will only encourage the same jihadists who attacked our homeland that day twenty years ago,” he accused.
For Moscow, Washington’s withdrawal plans could lead to escalation of the decades-long conflict in the country. “What is worrying in this context is that the armed conflict in Afghanistan may escalate in the near future which, in turn, could undermine the efforts initiated for direct inter-Afghan negotiations,” the Russian Foreign Ministry warned.
Biden’s decision comes after Turkey’s readiness to host a US-backed peace conference from April 24 to May 4 that will bring together the Afghan government, the Taliban and international partners. However, spokesman for the Taliban office in Qatar, Mohammad Naeem, has already announced that they will not participate in any conference on the future of Afghanistan “until all foreign forces have completely withdrawn”.
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