The UK defence secretary Ben Wallace criticised the US decision to leave Afghanistan as a “mistake” that handed the Taliban “momentum.”
Speaking to Sky News, Ben Wallace warned that “the international community will probably pay the consequences” and said he was worried al-Qaida would regain a base in Afghanistan.
Wallace said the withdrawal agreement negotiated in Doha, Qatar was a “rotten deal” which the UK tried to resist.
Records show President Joe Biden ignored British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s attempts to contact him for approximately 36 hours as the Taliban cemented its control over Afghanistan.
A new report shows the British Prime Minister tried to reach the American President on Sunday evening (US Time), but wasn’t able to get him on the phone until Tuesday evening. The British Prime Minister was the first world leader the American president did eventually speak to.
The British Defence Secretary said the UK had no choice but to agree pulling British troops out after the US, because the international community had to act together.
The British Defence Secretary said:
“When the United States as the framework nation took that decision, the way we were all configured meant that we had to leave.”
Wallace’s comments echoed those of Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, who said the country was being turned into ‘a breeding ground’ for future terror attacks less than a month before the anniversary of 9/11.
Pompeo, blaming Joe Biden for the chaotic withdrawal, told Fox News:
“It looks at best naïve and at worst ignorant.
“Weakness begets war, and you see what weak leadership ultimately leads to.”
Donald Trump has also released a new statement slamming President Joe Biden and his “woke Generals” for their evacuation strategy in Afghanistan.
Published on his website, the statement by the former US president read:
“First you bring out all of the American citizens. Then you bring out ALL equipment. Then you bomb the bases into smithereens—AND THEN YOU BRING OUT THE MILITARY. You don’t do it in reverse order like Biden and our woke Generals did.”
“No chaos, no death—they wouldn’t even know we left!”
Trump has released over a dozen statements since the Taliban’s takeover attacking Biden’s withdrawal plan.
On Wednesday, the former president said Biden rushed the troops’ withdrawal to “celebrate” on September 11, the 20th anniversary of deadly terror attacks by Al Qaeda targeting twin towers of the original World Trade Center, but it is the Taliban who are celebrating.
He said:
“Biden did this to celebrate on September 11th when in actuality the celebration is our enemies and the fact that we already have the Taliban flag flying over our Obama-Biden built $1 Billion U.S. Embassy in Kabul.”
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