NATO warns of “high” price for hasty withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan / Article / LSM.lv

The hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by the United States (US) and its allies could turn the country back into an “international terrorist platform,” warned NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Donald Trump, the owner of the White House, has been advocating for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan throughout his presidency, and he wants to bring the soldiers home by Christmas.

Christopher Miller, who was appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense a few days ago, signaled that the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the Middle East could be accelerated. If US President Donald Trump sticks to the idea of ​​withdrawing troops, he must do so within the next 67 days before Joe Biden takes office.

Former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has reduced the number of US troops in Afghanistan by almost two-thirds. But Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has said the goal is to reduce the number of troops to 2,500 by February.

However, the withdrawal of troops is particularly worrying, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has now pointed out. He said the price for leaving too fast or uncoordinated could be very high. According to him, the Islamic State or Daisy group in Afghanistan could restore the caliphate of terror it lost in Syria and Iraq.

Mitch Maconel, the leader of the US Senate majority, has also warned that accelerating the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraqi extremists would provide a “great propaganda victory”.

CONTEXT:

Since the September 11, 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Americans have spent more than $ 1 trillion on fighting and reconstruction in Afghanistan. More than 2,000 US troops have been killed, as well as tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban fighters and Afghan civilians.

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