US MUST LEAVE AFGHANISTAN, BUT RESPONSIBLY, EX-PENTAGON CHIEF HAGEL SAYS

Tue 30 March 2021:

The United States should fully withdraw from Afghanistan but it must do so responsibly, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Monday.

Last week, President Joe Biden said due to “tactical reasons” the US was unlikely to meet the May 1 deadline to exit Afghanistan stipulated in the agreement the Trump administration struck with the insurgents.

“I think it’s time we have to leave [Afghanistan] but it has to be done responsibly,” Hagel told a conference organized by The Hill political newspaper.

However, Hagel also said May 1 is not a deadline that could ever have been achieved.

Hagel criticized previous President Donald Trump’s agreement at Doha with the Taliban to withdraw all US military forces from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. Trump’s decision to ignore the Afghan government and make a deal with the Taliban behind Kabul’s back echoed President Richard Nixon’s pullout talks on Vietnam 50 years ago.

According to media reports last week, American intelligence warned the White House that Afghanistan could be taken over by the Taliban militants if American troops leave before a power-sharing agreement is in place.