Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor for the White House, while talking to American Fox News, said no one knew what would happen inside Afghanistan after the US withdrawal completed. “No one can offer guarantees about Afghanistan’s future after U.S. troops leave.”
The statement by top White House official is made while US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on Sunday said that terror threats were removed from Afghanistan and the US needed to shift focus elsewhere.
Last week, US President Biden announced that the United States will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the al Qaeda attacks that led to America’s longest war in history.
The US withdrawal comes despite a deadlock in peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents who said they would not take part in any conference until all foreign forces leave Afghanistan.
When asked about the risk of a repeat of what happened in Iraq, where Islamic State fighters seized control over cities, Sullivan said Biden had no intention of redeployment of US forces to Afghanistan.
Last week, William Burns, the Director of CIA, told US lawmakers that the American departure from Afghanistan would leave a “significant risk” of terrorism resurgence in the region. “Our ability to keep that threat in Afghanistan in check … has benefitted greatly from the presence of U.S. and coalition militaries on the ground,” Burns said as quoted by a US news agency.
Washington’s plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan followed a mixed reaction in Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in a tweet that he discussed the US decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan with President Biden and would respect the decision the White House has made. Ghani said his government would continue to work with the US and NATO nations in the next phase of the partnership.
Many including the Afghan parliament speaker warned that a hasty US withdrawal would push the country into an unwanted bloody civil war and turn the country into a safe house for the international terrorists.
