Afghanistan/2021 withdrawal

 Afghanistan/2021 withdrawal 

Date	2020 - Present
Perpetrators	USA, UK
Description	The end of the occupation of Afghanistan?

The Afghanistan/2021 withdraw is planned for the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

What's happening?

Afghanistan

The Taliban took control by mid-August and its co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar returned from exile in Qatar.

USA

Joe Biden is leading the withdrawal.

Most of Congress condemns.

Some in favour include Matt Gaetz, Rand Paul and Donald Trump

Britain

UK/Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says that Al-Qaeda will re-enter Afghanistan. Johnny Mercer said the UK had "chosen defeat", describing the lack of "political will" as "shameful", "sad", "humiliating for the British army", and above all a "tragedy for the Afghan people".

Tom Tugendhat and Rory Stewart condemned the withdrawal.

As part of the Official opposition narrative, Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy also opposes the withdrawal.

On 18 August, UK Parliament was recalled. All mainstream newspapers condemned Boris Johnson. Johnson wants to neogtiate with the Taliban.

“What I want to assure people is that our political and diplomatic efforts to find a solution for Afghanistan, working with the Taliban, of course if necessary, will go on.”
Boris Johnson (20 August 2021) 

 

An example

Page name	Description
Evacuation from Afghanistan	The evacuation of foreigners from Afghanistan, one of the largest airlifts in history

 

Related Quotations

Page	Quote	Author	Date
Evacuation from Afghanistan	“There's so many people arguing about the withdrawal from Afghanistan blaming Trump, blaming Biden. 'Oh we should withdraw like this'. No no there's only one way to withdraw it's called get the f*** out of Afghanistan. Okay people in the west need to stop with this colonial mindset thinking they can just invade countries kill people stay there for 20 years and then act like they are the victims at Kabul Airport.”	Richard Medhurst	27 August 2021
Peter Jennings (ASPI)	“The only person who thinks there is no chance of militarily victory in Afghanistan is Joe Biden”	Peter Jennings (ASPI)	June 2021
Bob Seely	“I know we have a duty to the world, I mean we think to the world's poor and we should be doing what we can to help. We don't have a duty to quote 'save the world'.”	Bob Seely	3 September 2021

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:A warring nation, united against us	Letter	19 August 2021	Craig Murray	Craig Murray's letter to The Herald from prison in Edinburgh: "As with the previous three times when UK invasions were defeated in Afghanistan, we have united a warring nation in hatred of us."
Document:Afghanistan is not about you	Article	19 August 2021	Ella Whelan	Neocon MPs are concerned about the Afghanistan/2021 withdraw. The only problem is that they only care about themselves, and thereby show us the narcissism of Western intervention.
Document:Britain’s delusions that it could take on the Taliban alone are ludicrous - what are our empire-nostalgic MPs smoking?	Article	19 August 2021	Tom Fowdy	The UK Parliament was recalled for an emergency debate over the Afghanistan/2021 withdraw. While the BBC focused on the divide between the sides of the house with their face mask wearing, Parliament was united against the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan. Most MPs are urging Boris Johnson to go back to Afghanistan, and take on the Taliban, alone if necessary.
Document:The 20-year war on Afghanistan was a mistake	Speech	18 August 2021	Zarah Sultana	Speaking outside Parliament on 18 August 2021, prior to the Afghanistan emergency debate, Zarah Sultana joined colleagues including Jeremy Corbyn to say: "The war on Afghanistan shows – once and for all – that the West cannot deliver liberal democracy at the barrel of a gun. This war – the first 'War on Terror' – must be Britain's last war of aggression."
Document:The bloody legacy of Bomber Blair	Article	1 January 2022	Alex Snowdon	"Petition for Tony Blair to have his 'Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter' rescinded" Such an honour rests upon expecting us to conveniently forget or ignore the enormous damage that Blair did. People are right to be angry.
Document:Twenty Years On, We’ve Learned Nothing From 9/11	Speech	17 September 2021	Ron Paul	20 years on from 9/11, Ron Paul says that The Establishment in the United States has learned nothing since the attacks.

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