Status: 08/14/2021 1:36 a.m.
The US government has made serious accusations against Afghan security forces. There is no will to oppose the advance of the Taliban. CDU foreign politician Röttgen called for the West to intervene.
The US government has accused the Afghan leadership and the security forces of a lack of combat readiness in view of the advance of the Taliban. It is “worrying” to see that the political and military leadership did not have the “will” to oppose the advance of the militant Islamists, said US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby, CNN. The US could not have foreseen the “lack of resistance” by the Afghan armed forces.
The Afghan security forces are superior to the Taliban in terms of equipment, training and troop strength and have their own air force, Kirby said. Referring to the US government’s financial support for the security forces, he added, “Money cannot buy a will.” The political and military leadership of the Afghans is responsible for this.
Since the beginning of the complete withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban have brought large parts of the country under their control. In the past few days, the Islamists took around half of the 34 Afghan provincial capitals, including the second largest city of Kandahar.
Röttgen considers one-sided deduction to be a mistake
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Norbert Röttgen, called for the West and the Bundeswehr to intervene against the Taliban advancing in Afghanistan. “You shouldn’t watch how people who were connected to us for a long time are slaughtered by the Taliban, how girls and women lose all hard-won rights again,” said the CDU politician to the editorial network Germany.
Inaction in the face of the Taliban’s advance “would be a massive damage to our credibility,” warned Röttgen. “To say after 20 years of engagement that this is an Afghan issue is really absurd and shameful.”
Röttgen emphasized that he was not in favor of reversing the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. But: “The unilateral and hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan was a mistake,” said Röttgen. Germany must “openly communicate this to the USA and urge them to intensify the air support they are already providing to the Afghan armed forces”.
Habeck calls for airlift for local workers
Meanwhile, Greens co-leader Robert Habeck called for more commitment from the federal government for people who, as local staff, have supported the Bundeswehr or German ministries in Afghanistan. “It now needs an airlift to bring these people out of mortal danger,” said Habeck of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “It is our duty to save the people from the Taliban who risked their lives to help our soldiers,” emphasized the Green politician. “It’s a question of loyalty. We mustn’t let them down, time is running out.”
Habeck called for people to be included in the local staff who had worked through companies, i.e. not directly for the Bundeswehr or other German institutions. After all, the radical Islamic Taliban were “precious little” interested in such contractual relationships. Habeck believes that visas should be issued upon arrival and that procedures should be simplified.