America’s NATO Allies Criticize Afghanistan Withdrawal - 'Biggest Debacle NATO Has Suffered’

What’s the story?

• Political leaders in three major countries that are U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have criticized the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in recent days, despite the Biden administration’s continued defense of its decision.
• The NATO alliance was formed in 1949, and over 1,000 NATO troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan alongside more than 2,448 Americans since 2001, when the alliance's Article V mutual defense clause was invoked for the first time after the September 11th terror attacks. It had about 7,000 troops in Afghanistan this spring when the U.S. announced it would pull out its 2,500 troops in the country. Numerous NATO members have been participating in the evacuation of Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover.
• In remarks on Friday, President Joe Biden insisted that NATO allies have praised the withdrawal from Afghanistan:

“I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world. I have spoken with our NATO allies… The fact of the matter is I have not seen that. Matter of fact, the exact opposite I’ve got ― the exact opposite I’ve got ― the exact opposite thing is we’re acting with dispatch, we’re acting ― committing to what we said we would do… 

And, by the way, before I made this decision, I was at the G7, as well as — met with our NATO partners, and I told them all. Every one of them knew and agreed with the decision I made to an end — end — jointly end our involvement in Afghanistan.”

• Biden spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday night, after Johnson began unsuccessfully attempting to speak with Biden on Monday morning according to the Telegraph. 
• In the United Kingdom’s Parliament, Tory MP Tom Tugendhat ― a British Army veteran of Afghanistan who chairs the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons ― criticized President Biden for questioning the courage of the Afghans he fought with alongside American troops:

“To see their commander-in-chief call into question the courage of men I fought with ― to claim that they ran. It is shameful. Those who have never fought for the colors they fly should be careful about criticizing those who have. Because what we have done, in these last few days, is we’ve demonstrated that it’s not armies that win wars. Armies can get tactical victories and operational victories that can hold a line. They can just about make room for peace, make room for people like us, parliamentarians, to talk, to compromise, to listen. It’s nations that make war. Nations endure. Nations mobilise and muster. Nations determine, and have patience. Here we have demonstrated, sadly, that we, the West — the United Kingdom — does not have patience.”

• Biden spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, after AFP reported that Merkel told leaders of her CDU-CSU coalition that the decision to end NATO’s deployment was “ultimately made by the Americans” for “domestic political reasons” and that, “The troop withdrawal sparked a domino effect” resulting in the Taliban’s takeover.
• Armin Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s party who is a likely contender to succeed the retiring chancellor, said the following about the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban:

“It is the biggest debacle that NATO has suffered since its founding, and we’re standing before an epochal change.”

• Biden spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. According to the French Embassy’s readout of the call, Macron “emphasized our collective moral responsibility toward the Afghan men and women who need our protection and who share our values. We cannot abandon them.” The Guardian noted that the White House’s readout of the call omitted any reference to NATO having a “moral responsibility” to evacuate Afghan allies. 
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked about the criticism from NATO allies by Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday and replied:

“This is an incredibly emotional time for many of us, and including allies and partners who have been shoulder-to-shoulder with us in Afghanistan for 20 years at high cost to themselves as well as to us. They stood with us after 9/11, invoked Article 5 at NATO for the first time – an attack on one is an attack on all – and we’ve been there together. But I’ve got to tell you this, Chris: From the get-go, I’ve spent more time with our NATO partners in Brussels, virtually from before the President made his decision, to when he made his decision, to every time since. We’ve been working very, very closely together. We’ve gotten the G7 together, NATO together, the UN Security Council together. We had 113 countries, thanks to our diplomacy, put out a clear understanding of the Taliban’s requirements to let people leave the country.”

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: US-NATO: DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff via Flickr / Creative Commons)