NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that the alliance will not leave Afghanistan “before the time is right” and said the Taliban have to do more to meet the terms of the deal signed with the US.
The US-Taliban peace deal signed in February 2020 set a deadline of May 1st for all foreign forces to leave Afghanistan. While there haven’t been any official announcements from either NATO or the US, all signs indicate that foreign troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond the deadline, and anonymous NATO officials have told reporters that they plan to stay.
“While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right,” Stoltenberg said at a news conference. “We see that there is still a need for the Taliban to do more when it comes to delivering on their commitments.”
Stoltenberg’s comments come after the Taliban warned NATO that if they stay beyond the May deadline, it will mean a “continuation of war.” The Taliban has also warned that they will start attacking US troops again if Washington fails to pull out. February 8th marked one year of no US troop combat deaths in Afghanistan, a first since the war started in 2001.
NATO-member Germany has said their troops might stay in Afghanistan after the deadline. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Sunday that the presence of German soldiers in the country will likely continue. Earlier this month, he warned the US against withdrawing.
re: “the Taliban have to do more to meet the terms of the deal signed with the US.”
Baloney. The Taliban are in full accord with the US-Taliban Agreement here. They actually were not required to do much. It’s the US which would not meet the terms if US troops aren’t out of there by May 1st. Out in body bags is an option. . .Who will be on the last helicopter from Kabul??
The German news-rag “DW”–excerpt —
Germany says troops may stay longer in Afghanistan
The German military was set to withdraw in March. But the peace process in Afghanistan is not going as planned.
There is no “if the security situation allows” in the US-Taliban agreement here. DW made it up. Fake news. And in fact the agreement covers ALL coalition troops according to their US master:
“NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that the alliance will not leave Afghanistan “before the time is right” …”
Yes, because for twenty years, the time hasn’t been “right”; but it will be “right” real soon now … right about the same time that the time will be right to leave Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, and the rest of the places that we have been for decades, some approaching a century!
When “the time is right”
Twenty years. Clearly for Uncle Sam the time is rotten but it is never ripe.
When the time is right ? , thats the same as saying how long is a piece of string.
Jes one more harvest……
They’re delusional. The world is very difference from when allies were rallying around Bush in 2001. Not one government is ready to tolerate significant casualties there again – neither the US nor any of it s allies. This is all going to be over before the end of Biden’s term of office.