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Tony Blair has an airport at the center of evacuation activities Forced to close on Saturday In a terrifying scene.
The former Prime Minister, who took Britain to Afghanistan in 2001, withdrew after saying that the “deep politics” of US foreign policy “visibly diminished” US influence in an unusual attack. The United Kingdom is the “second division of global power” in the blunder over.
Blair breaks the silence as Boris Johnson, Dominic RaabForeign Ministers must rely on Russia and China to support the exercise of “moderate influence” on the Taliban as Britain’s presence over the Taliban ends, despite deep distrust of both administrations. I concluded that it would not be.
On Saturday night, Mr. Raab told The Telegraph:
Kabul Airport was closed on Saturday, urging US citizens not to flee Afghanistan.
The US State Department has announced that it will close the airport for at least 48 hours to focus on the processing of hundreds of people who could already get inside.
U.S. accused chaos
As relations between Britain and the United States deteriorated, government sources claimed that Johnson was not among the ministers who criticized the United States, adding that he had “good cooperation” with Mr. Biden.
However, other government sources claimed that Americans had invited “all to come at once” because of the turmoil at Kabul Airport. Pentagon officials said Saturday night that the airport situation was “fluid and dynamic” and “changing from hour to hour.”
Mr. Biden’s public statement last week angered senior ministers, claiming that Britain and its allies had “choices” about whether Britain and its allies would remain in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal, accusing the U.S. president of being dishonest. bottom.
“Lack of reality”
High-ranking government officials believe that Britain’s hands were forced by the decision of the United States to leave. On Saturday, a Whitehall source said Mr Biden seemed “a little lacking in reality.”
In an article posted on his Global Change Institute website, Blair said that the “western” decision to withdraw from Afghanistan “in this way” was driven “by politics, not grand strategy.” It says it is “obvious.”
In a thinly obscured attack on the Democratic president, which Prime Minister Blair praised in January as “the right person in the right place at the right time,” he wrote: .. We found that our involvement in 2021 reduced the number of troops to a minimum, and Allied soldiers did not die in combat for 18 months. “
“Eternal war”
Blair tries not to name Biden throughout the 2,700-word article, but the “eternal war” slogan he attacks was central to last year’s former vice presidential campaign and the official election web. The site says: The eternal war between Afghanistan and the Middle East has brought us enormous blood and treasure.
“As he has long argued, Biden will return most of our troops from Afghanistan and narrowly focus our mission on al-Qaeda and Isis.”
In April after the election, Biden said, “I was attacked and went to war with a clear goal. I achieved that goal. Bin Ladin is dead and al-Qaeda is declining in Afghanistan. Ending this eternal war. The time has come. ” “
In the article, Blair said that “all jihadist groups around the world” “supported” the withdrawal, “Russia, China and Iran will see and use it. From Western leaders. Anyone given a promise will of course consider them an unstable currency. ” .. “
“Extremist Islam”
The former Prime Minister, who resigned in 2007, compares the fight against “radical Islam” in the West with the confrontation with revolutionary communism for more than 70 years, showing that the West is not in a “breakthrough retreat.” We are looking for a concrete demonstration. Year.
In a move seen as responding to the allegations of omission, Mr Raab revealed that Britain is planning an international “contact group” for countries seeking clarification from the Taliban. .. A similar group was formed in response to the Bosnian crisis in the early 1990s.
Controversial, Johnson and Rab concluded that they needed to work with Russia and China to exert influence over the Taliban. The P5 Group, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, will discuss the proposal this week.
Russia and China: Mitigating influence
Rab said: “We need to bring in countries that could be less influential, like Russia and China, but that’s unpleasant. Britain is in Afghanistan this week.
“If we want to exert our maximum moderate influence on the Taliban, we need to work with India, Pakistan, China and others who are concerned about terrorism and refugees.
“It will give us a group to exert greater influence and better convey the message to the Taliban. The British treatise to the G7 was well received-we feel our way. But we need to take the initiative-what is it Global Britain About everything. “
Senior government sources said a “UN-led process” was needed to “protect Afghans and prevent them from collapsing into turmoil.”
Final withdrawal
According to senior State Department officials, the U.S. military will end its operations on August 30, meaning that other countries must leave in advance.
The Norwegian field hospital is scheduled to withdraw on August 26th. However, senior government sources said, “The situation on the ground is in flux. It is unwise to set strict deadlines at this stage. Our priority is to get people out as safely and as soon as possible. . “
At some point on Saturday, the U.S. military relied on sending a helicopter to Kabul to ferry the horrified refugees who could not reach the airport terminal.
However, the airport gate was locked to people still outside on Saturday afternoon, and U.S. officials said no more people could enter until the vast unprocessed portion of refugees and fleeing people was cleared. He said he was not allowed.
U.S. officials on Saturday night said a potential threat from Islamic State groups to Americans in Afghanistan has forced US troops to find new ways for evacuees to reach Kabul Airport.
As tensions increased, there was a chaotic scene outside the airport’s border fence, and families (several people wielding British passports) begged British soldiers to get them in.
There was a report that Downing Street had told Mr. Raab to return from his vacation on Crete on Friday, August 13, but Mr. Raab demanded another two days away.
Shadow Foreign Minister Lisa Nandy also wrote to Mr. Raab, claiming that people were “shot, beaten, and raped” while waiting to be called before at the airport.
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