Sir Richard Barrons said the withdrawal of British troops suggested ‘we don’t have the stomach to see these things through’. Photograph: Harland Quarrington/MoD/Crown Copyright/PA
The Guardian: Afghanistan could become terrorist base again, UK general warns
Sir Richard Barrons says withdrawal of western troops a 'strategic mistake’ as Taliban make territorial gains Afghanistan could once again become a base for international terrorism, according to a former senior UK military commander who has described the withdrawal of western troops as a “strategic mistake”.
As the Taliban continued to make sweeping territorial gains, Gen Sir Richard Barrons warned that attacks in Europe could be the outcome of groups re-establishing themselves in the country.
“I don’t believe it’s in our own interest – in making that decision to leave we’ve not only, I think, sold the future of Afghanistan into a very difficult place, we’ve also sent a really unfortunate message to the west’s allies in the Gulf and Africa and Asia,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend.
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Update: This shabby and perilous retreat from Afghanistan could prove to be the West's worst own goal this century (Tobias Ellwood, Daily Mail).
WNU Editor: Gen Sir Richard Barrons is not alone in voicing his concerns that Afghanistan could become a terrorist base again .... As the Taliban surges across Afghanistan, al-Qaeda is poised for a swift return (Greg Barton , The Conversation).
