As NATO is pulling troops out of Afghanistan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is looking for ways to continue to support the Afghan military.
“The drawdown of the NATO troops, the end of the Resolute Support Mission, is not the end to our partnership with Afghanistan, it’s actually opening up a new chapter and we are now looking into how we can continue to provide support,” Stoltenberg said at the European Council on Thursday.
“We are looking into ways to provide financial support, help with training and also support the international community in Afghanistan,” he added.
The US plans to continue supporting the Afghan military financially and is mulling other options for continued support. On Thursday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the US is considering training Afghan forces in other countries after the pullout.
Stoltenberg also delivered a warning to the Taliban. “We have sent a very clear message to the Taliban, that any attack on NATO troops will be met with a forceful response,” he said.
Because President Biden broke the US-Taliban peace deal by pushing back the original May 1st withdrawal deadline, there are fears that the Taliban might start attacking foreign troops again. But so far, it appears they are refraining from doing so, and reports say the US and the Taliban are in talks to get all foreign forces out by early July.
The Taliban had been guarding US bases, forming an outer ring to prevent attacks by the multitude of warlords and loons with guns. Now they have stepped back to let the US and NATO face that directly.
Amazing! The NATO puppet parrots our exact talking points. Was that Austin or Stoltenberg?