Foreign troops under NATO command will cooperate with the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, Secretary of State John Blinken said Wednesday (April 14), after Germany said it would cooperate with the U.S. withdrawal plan.
The U.S. has 2,500 troops in Afghanistan and about 7,000 more from other NATO members besides the United States before it, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Georgia. But they still rely on U.S. air support, planning and leadership for their training mission.
Secretary of State John Blinken said in a speech Wednesday at NATO headquarters that it’s time for NATO allies to make good on the mantra that allies go into Afghanistan together and leave together.
“I am here to work closely with our allies, with the NATO secretary general, to follow the principles we have established from the beginning: go in together, adjust together and leave together.” Blinken said.
An integral part of NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan is to train and equip Afghan security forces to fight the Islamic Taliban.
“In the coming months, we will be working very closely together to withdraw from Afghanistan in a safe, deliberate and coordinated manner,” Blinken said. Blinken said.
Reuters reports that a key reason for a coordinated NATO-U.S. withdrawal is that NATO relies on U.S. airlift capabilities and shipping to bring equipment home from landlocked Afghanistan. NATO also wants to avoid any hardware falling into the hands of militants, as happened after the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
“Lots and lots of armored vehicles, helicopters and ammunition are being put into Afghanistan, and four months is not a long time to get it back home.” said Jamie Shea, a former NATO official and now an analyst at Friends of Europe, a think tank.
Many European troops won’t want to give up equipment worth billions of dollars, he said. Some of the equipment could be donated to Afghan security forces.
NATO foreign and defense ministers will discuss their plans via videoconference later Wednesday.
President Biden plans to withdraw the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, U.S. officials revealed Tuesday (April 13). 20 years ago, al-Qaida’s terrorist attacks sparked the longest-running U.S. war.
The White House said the Democratic president will publicly announce his decision on Wednesday (April 14). A senior Biden administration official said the withdrawal would begin by May 1 and could be completed by the Sept. 11 deadline. Significantly, it will not be subject to further conditions, including security or human rights.
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