Defence Secretary Ben Wallace slams Donald Trump's peace deal with the Taliban saying it 'couldn’t have been more helpful to the regime in achieving its victory' in taking over Afghanistan
The Defence Secretary today blamed Donald Trump for the speedy collapse of Afghanistan into the hands of the Taliban.
Ben Wallace told MPs that a 2020 deal struck by the Trump administration with the Islamic extremists 'couldn’t have been more helpful to the regime in achieving its victory'.
He made the claim as he faced a grilling over the speedy military collapse of Afghanistan, which sparked an emergency evacuation of western forces and diplomats in the summer.
The deal signed in Doha, Qatar led the way for US forces to withdraw from the battle-scarred country by September this year.
Mr Wallace told the Defence Committee the Americans had 'sent a message to the world that you don't have any faith in the government in post'.
'It (the deal) removed from the battlefield the one thing the Taliban feared ... the terms of the deal probably could not have been more preferably for the Taliban achieving their victory, their aim,' he said.
He denied that Nato soldiers had been militarily defeated but admitted: 'Our resolve was found wanting'.
And he said he knew 'the game was up' in July.
Ben Wallace told MPs that a 2018 deal struck by the Trump administration with the Islamic extremists 'couldn’t have been more helpful to the regime in achieving its victory'.
He made the claim as he faced a grilling over the speedy military collapse of Afghanistan, which sparked an emergency evacuation of western forces and diplomats in the summer.
Under the agreement, the US began withdrawing thousands of troops in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent Afghanistan from being a launchpad for terrorist attacks
The deal done in February last year was signed in the Qatari capital Doha by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on hand to witness the ceremony.
Under the agreement, the US began withdrawing thousands of troops in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent Afghanistan from being a launchpad for terrorist attacks.
It set a timetable for a 14-month withdrawal that was continued by Mr Trump's successor Joe Biden. But that withdrawal turned into a route of Afghan forces as their US allied pulled out.
The Taliban led a swift offensive that took Kabul in a matter of days, leaving Western powers to humiliatingly evacuate thousands of personnel in scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Mr Wallace has previously described the 2020 deal as 'rotten'.
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