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‘Crucible of Terrorism’: NATO Trained Ex-General Laments US Failure in Afghanistan
‘Crucible of Terrorism’: NATO Trained Ex-General Laments US Failure in Afghanistan
Sputnik International
Domestic political turmoil rather than smart strategy directed the United States’ military intervention in Afghanistan, causing the Taliban and Al Qaeda to become empowered after the disastrous US pullout according to a former top army chief.
2024-09-02T03:58+0000
2024-09-02T03:58+0000
2024-09-02T04:13+0000
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Domestic political turmoil rather than smart strategy directed the United States’ military intervention in Afghanistan, causing the Taliban and al-Qaeda to become empowered after the disastrous US pullout according to a former top army chief.Ex-Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Afghan National Army Sami Sadat made the claim during an interview with Fox News Digital published Sunday.“There is 50,000 al-Qaeda members and al-Qaeda associates in Afghanistan – most of them have trained for overseas operations in the last three years,” said Sadat who, like many former Afghan security personnel, trained at a NATO military academy.Fox News was unable to verify the figures cited by the ex-military chief but other observers have claimed the notorious terrorist organization is “expanding” and “thriving” in the Central Asian country, funding itself via proceeds from smuggling, mining and drug trafficking. Al-Qaeda is best known for planning and executing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.US President Joe Biden claimed in 2021 that the group was no longer present in Afghanistan, only to be corrected shortly after by his own Defense Department which noted that al-Qaeda and ISIS*** fighters remain in the country. The United States spent over $2.3 trillion over the course of some 20 years in Afghanistan, with Biden calling the ill-fated intervention “the longest war in American history.”The US military has undergone a restructuring in recent years amid plummeting recruitment as the Pentagon shifts its focus away from counterterrorism operations in the Middle East and towards a predicted war in the Pacific with Russia or China.The Taliban was legitimized in the eyes of many Afghan people by its role in resisting the two decade-long US occupation. The Taliban originally came to power with the help of the United States, which funded Taliban fighters throughout the 1980s to resist the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.The group is reviled by many for its social conservatism and religious fundamentalism. Taliban officials have recently indicated that girls’ schools in Afghanistan will remain closed; US officials often justified American intervention in the country under the pretext of protecting women’s rights.The United States reportedly invested millions of dollars to modernize Afghanistan’s mining industry during its occupation, with limited results. Analysis by the investigative outlet ProPublica revealed at least $17 billion in “questionable spending” during the war and reconstruction effort. A recent audit of the Pentagon found that the US Department of Defense cannot account for 63% of its nearly $4 trillion in assets.Former US President George W. Bush presided over a US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 even as the then-ruling Taliban offered to help locate and turn over suspected 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. A study by Brown University found that at least 4.5 million people have been killed directly or indirectly by the US-led “War on Terror,” which led to a collapse in infrastructure in various “post-9/11 war zones.”Meanwhile US armed forces have experienced an epidemic of suicides with the study finding at “at least four times as many active duty personnel and war veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have died of suicide than in combat.”The United States’ failure to successfully combat terrorism has led many countries to instead turn towards Moscow for assistance, with governments across Africa’s Sahel region becoming the latest to employ the help of the Russian Wagner Group private military company.* Terrorist organization banned in Russia.**Under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.***ISIS (also known as ISIS/IL/ISIS-K/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.
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‘Crucible of Terrorism’: NATO Trained Ex-General Laments US Failure in Afghanistan
03:58 GMT 02.09.2024 (Updated: 04:13 GMT 02.09.2024) American military involvement has served to strengthen global terrorism rather than combat it, with the resurgence of Al Qaeda* and the Taliban** in Afghanistan serving as the latest example.
Domestic political turmoil rather than smart strategy directed the United States’ military intervention in Afghanistan, causing the Taliban and al-Qaeda to become empowered after the disastrous US pullout according to a former top army chief.
Ex-Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Afghan National Army Sami Sadat made the claim during an
interview with Fox News Digital published Sunday.
“There is 50,000 al-Qaeda members and al-Qaeda associates in Afghanistan – most of them have trained for overseas operations in the last three years,” said Sadat who, like many former Afghan security personnel,
trained at a NATO military academy.
“Allowing [al-Qaeda] to retake Afghanistan with the Taliban in 2021 gave them a new rallying call. This is now their most important hub,” Sadat wrote in a book released last month. “Al-Qaeda not only survived but adapted to the changing policies of American administrations, waiting the West out of Iraq and Afghanistan and watching the U.S. attack their Islamic State rivals in the Middle East.”
Fox News was unable to verify the figures cited by the ex-military chief but other
observers have
claimed the notorious terrorist organization is “expanding” and “thriving” in the Central Asian country, funding itself via proceeds from smuggling, mining and drug trafficking. Al-Qaeda is best known for planning and executing the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
5 November 2023, 13:43 GMT
US President Joe Biden claimed in 2021 that the group was no longer present in Afghanistan, only to be
corrected shortly after by his own Defense Department which noted that al-Qaeda and ISIS*** fighters remain in the country. The United States
spent over $2.3 trillion over the course of some 20 years in Afghanistan, with Biden
calling the ill-fated intervention
“the longest war in American history.”The US military has
undergone a restructuring in recent years amid plummeting recruitment as the Pentagon shifts its focus away from counterterrorism operations in the Middle East and towards a predicted war in the Pacific with Russia or China.
“The war [in Afghanistan] was lost not because the Taliban were strong but because for twenty years it was not treated as a war but as a short-term intervention,” wrote Sadat, who currently resides in London. “Afghanistan has once again become a crucible of international terrorism, under Taliban protection.”
The Taliban was legitimized in the eyes of many Afghan people by its role in resisting the two decade-long US occupation. The Taliban originally came to power with the help of the United States, which funded Taliban fighters throughout the 1980s to resist the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
The group is reviled by many for its social conservatism and religious fundamentalism.
Taliban officials have recently indicated that girls’ schools in Afghanistan will remain closed; US officials often justified American intervention in the country under the pretext of protecting women’s rights.
14 August 2023, 21:07 GMT
The United States reportedly
invested millions of dollars to modernize Afghanistan’s mining industry during its occupation, with limited results.
Analysis by the investigative outlet ProPublica revealed
at least $17 billion in “questionable spending” during the war and reconstruction effort. A recent audit of the Pentagon
found that the US Department of Defense cannot account for 63% of its nearly $4 trillion in assets.
Former US President George W. Bush presided over a US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 even as the then-ruling Taliban
offered to help locate and turn over suspected 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
A study by Brown University found that at least 4.5 million people have been killed directly or indirectly by the US-led “War on Terror,” which led to a collapse in infrastructure in various “post-9/11 war zones.”
Meanwhile US armed forces have experienced an epidemic of suicides with the study finding at “at least four times as many active duty personnel and war veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have died of suicide than in combat.”
The United States’
failure to successfully combat terrorism has led many countries to instead turn towards Moscow for assistance, with governments across Africa’s Sahel region becoming the latest to employ the help of the Russian Wagner Group private military company.
* Terrorist organization banned in Russia.
**Under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
***ISIS (also known as ISIS/IL/ISIS-K/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.
