Jens Stoltenberg: NATO has 'some leverage' with Taliban DW dated this as 20.08.2021The written text that is shown by Deutsche Welle clearly indicates that it was approved by NATO and when listening that seems also to be the case; Secretary General Stoltenberg is making the statement of a NATO approval of that decision to sign that document with the Taliban --- that agreement.
Although the U.S. made the deal with the Taliban unilaterally, Stoltenberg said NATO "made that decision very well aware of the risks that was clearly communicated."
"We knew that if we left or ended our military mission, there was a risk of the return of Taliban," he said. "But we also knew that the alternative was also a bad and difficult option, and that was to stay in a mission with more NATO troops, with more violence, more fighting, more casualties... We actually faced a very difficult dilemma."
And I am a tad confused about that indication that it was a unilateral decision to sign, but that NATO was in some manner involved.
So I go to the NATO website and the best I can find is from August 17th:
Press briefing on Afghanistan | by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Last updated: 17 Aug. 2021 18:05The United States agreed with the Taliban last year that US troops would withdraw by May.
And after many rounds of consultations, all Allies agreed to follow the US decision.
Ending our military mission was not easy.
We were faced with a serious dilemma.
Either leave, and risk seeing the Taliban regain control.
Or stay, and risk renewed attacks, and an open-ended combat mission.
We never intended to stay in Afghanistan forever.
Over the past few years, from over 100,000 troops we went down to less than 10,000 – and now to zero.
But what we have seen in the last few weeks was a military and political collapse at a speed which had not been anticipated.
Parts of the Afghan security forces fought bravely.
But they were unable to secure the country.
Because ultimately, the Afghan political leadership failed to stand up to the Taliban and to achieve the peaceful solution that Afghans desperately wanted.
This failure of Afghan leadership led to the tragedy we are witnessing today.
Note: Up there I'm keeping the format of the NATO web page.So NATO folks agreed to fall in line with that main idea to get the heck out, but we hear the present U.S. administration folks placing blame only on the former administration. (?) Why no reference to a whole bunch of other folks in very high offices in other nations and in at least one international organization that indicate support.
This whole thing just gets stinkier and stinkier. This kind of reminds me of so many years ago when we had that defecate burning at some of our field units and if you were unlucky to have the wind aim that smell at your bird during pre-flight you - - - well, you cursed about everyone and their brother. Getting a sense of the same stink. Well, worse. Actually, it was done at some airfields that were more than just temporary field sites. I seem to remember that burning duty was given out to some folks as part of an Article 15. But if you got downwind of that it was the Good Lord dishing out an Article 15 aimed at you and your crew. Kind of like at Fort Rucker when I know the Good Lord moved the Earth up a few feet during an auto-rotation exercise. I understand civilians aren't allowed to do an auto-rotation all the way to solid ground. Well, unless it is really because of an engine shutdown. Uh oh, I'm sliding off-topic. Sorry.
Getting back on topic, CNBC has this highlighted as the second of three "Key Points" of Secretary General Stoltenberg's press briefing:
There are “serious and hard questions” to be asked about how the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was executed, he said.
NATO is ‘working 24/7’ to get as many people out of Afghanistan as possible, its chief says Published Sat, Aug 21 20215:46 AM EDT Updated Sat, Aug 21 20216:10 AM EDT
And another quote from their assessment of his press briefing is this:
Stoltenberg said NATO — a 30-member military alliance — made a “very difficult and hard choice” when deciding to withdraw those troops, a move that has been branded an abandonment by some observers.
Frankly, I have not been too smart, of course, and did not give any thought to who else had agreed to that agreement. It was not just the former U.S. administration.
By the way,
Aaron747, that comment about 700 years was a very good observation, except for a slight bit of a time thingy:
"
Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan"
