Donald Trump withdraws US soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq



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Miller said the US government intended to end “a war of generations” in Afghanistan. He stressed that prior to the decision, Washington consulted with its allies, including NATO leaders and members of the North Atlantic Alliance, and consulted with the Afghan government.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, and has been present in Iraq since 2003. It rushed into Iraq in 2003 after, as it turned out, the US government led by George W. Bush knowingly presented to the world the false reason for the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Therefore, Colin Powell, the Bush administration’s foreign minister, later apologized, noting that the start of the Iraq war was a “stain on his own honor.”

US President Donald Trump campaigned in 2016 to end wars that he said were “endless.” To this end, he has previously consulted with Iraqi leaders and, earlier this year, with the Afghan government and representatives of the Taliban.

Several US media outlets reported preliminary but unidentified sources on Monday about the decision announced Tuesday, and several have expressed concern.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in a statement Tuesday that NATO could pay a high price for an early withdrawal. Even Monday night, the leader of the Republican Senate faction, Mitch McConnell, responded by warning the president not to accelerate the withdrawal of troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. As he said, a troop withdrawal “would harm America’s allies, the joy of its enemies.” Marco Rubio, a Republican politician and head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke in an interview about concerns that a “very rapid collapse” could occur in Afghanistan.

Cover image: Getty Images



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