Afghanistan's armed forces and government have to be able to fight for themselves after the US military withdrawal is completed by September 11, Senator Mark Warner said on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2021) Afghanistan's armed forces and government have to be able to fight for themselves after the US military withdrawal is completed by September 11, Senator Mark Warner said on Monday.
"At some point the Afghans have to be willing to fight for themselves," Warner, a Democratic from Virginia, said in an interview. "I'd like to be more optimistic than I am... If we kept 4,000 to 6,000 American troops there, we could have had more stability."
Warner noted that the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan had been proceeding smoothly without any interference from the Taliban forces seeking to topple the US-supported Kabul government. But he expressed caution about new possible Taliban attacks once the withdrawal was completed.
"I am hoping for the best but I don't want to be naive about the long term prospects. ...I worry that the Taliban have been playing the long game," Warner said.
The senator added that he still believed the Kabul government and the US-financed, trained and equipped military forces loyal to it would at least be able to hold on to the country's capital and other major cities in the country once the US troop pullout was finished.
