Daily Archives: September 2, 2021

With the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Kabul complete, its time to assess the impact on both U.S.-NATO and U.S.-Turkey relations.

Two elements of cold, harsh reality were revealed. First, the United Stateswill act unilaterally with little regard for the opinion of other NATO members. Second, years of neglect have left most NATO members military dependent on the United Statesto sustain any operation of significant distance or duration.

U.S. decision making drove the actions of NATO members and partners in their planning in Afghanistan. Without U.S. forces, or the acquiescence of the Taliban, the other nations participating in the NATO training mission simply could not have retained the same presence.

Given enough time to arrange the right combination of assets from the many different members involved, a small NATO mission could possibly have been sustained. But its hard to imagine many wanting to remain after the United States made its intentions clear.

Anyone who thought the arrival of President Biden would bring an end to American military unilateralism should recognise that was a fantasy. From the comments by NATO members, and the G7 leaders statement, it is clear that U.S. allies were resigned to the end of the mission, instead lobbying U.S. President Joe Biden to extend the withdrawal deadline and allow for a more thorough evacuation of their nationals or Afghans deemed at risk from the Taliban for NATO links.

NATO member states that hoped the pressure to increase defence spending would end alongside Donald Trumps departure from the White House must now understand that they will not be able to depend on the United States as much as they hoped.

Turkeys position in NATO is now even more complicated. Having pursued its own policies in conflicts such as Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, often contrary to the consensus view in NATO, Turkish leaders will question the value of an organisation where the most powerful member can override the will of all others combined.

Like others, Turkey must consider how much to invest in further developing the capabilities for unilateral action, as it has increasingly done already. The mismanaged U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, especially the lack of consultation with allies, will strengthen the argument within Turkey for a robust and independent defence industry.

There are dangers in this. NATO members enjoy a strong deterrent to any direct action by foreign aggressors - the mission in Afghanistan was part of the NATO invocation of Article five of the Washington Treaty calling on all members to consider an attack on one member an attack on all. Pulling away from consensus decision making might be possible for the United States, but it is highly debatable whether Turkey or any other NATO members could do likewise while remaining securely within NATO. Perhaps the loss of independence of action is balanced by the security NATO still affords Turkey, at least for the foreseeable future.

Bidens woeful mishandling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan simply revealed that which had become obscure over time: The United States, like all nations, will operate in its own best interests. Biden, no less than Trump, puts America first, and NATO members must spend more on their militaries if they wish to have greater say over when, where, and how to use those forces. Turkey and others must accept these realities.

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The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has harsh lessons for Turkey and NATO - Ahval

TIRANA There are few more honorable pages in Albanias history than its lonely example of heroism in the face of the destruction of European Jewry during World War II.

Nobody asked our grandparents to risk, and often sacrifice, their lives to save people from the Holocaust, yet countless Albanians Muslims, Christians and atheists did just that. Thanks to the Albanian code of honor, which demands all of us to offer shelter to strangers in need, Albania was the only country in Europe with more Jews at the wars end than at its start.

Immediately afterward, we experienced persecution firsthand. After prevailing over our external enemies, we encountered an equally vicious one at home: an oppressive totalitarian regime that jailed, tortured and murdered those it perceived as enemies.

We lived what the people of Afghanistan now face as the Taliban consolidate power throughout the country. We lived in a state that sealed its border and persecuted dissidents and their families, just like the Taliban are expected to do with their adversaries. For nearly 50 years, we aspired to have the freedom that Afghans tasted over the last 20 years and which they now seem certain to lose.

Today, Albania is a member of NATO, enjoying the benefits and sharing the burdens of cooperation. Given our history, it is right that we were the first country in the world to offer shelter to thousands of refugees fleeing the Taliban. All NATO members must recognize their responsibility.

Yes, there are important questions about what is happening in Afghanistan and why, and how current events will shape the Alliances future. But while it is imperative to have those dispassionate conversations, there is only one thing to do now: act together to save as many lives as possible.

We must uphold the values of the North Atlantic Alliance and shared by all democratic countries. That means not turning our back on people whose lives are now at risk because they believed in us.

Until a few days ago, NATO members were the main source of support for the people of Afghanistan. We cannot recede like shadows, alongside the ideals, principles and promises of freedom and democracy that we made over two decades.

The worlds most powerful military alliance, built to uphold those ideals with the threat of force and the force of example, cannot become a spineless entity in the eyes of the Afghan people and the millions of people elsewhere who crave to live in a free, just and democratic society. All of us, our community of countries, must give hope, shelter and a new life to all of those who trusted us, worked for us and fought for the promise of the future we represented.

When we agreed to shelter Afghan refugees, we did it because we take seriously our obligations to our allies. But, more importantly, we did it because of who we are. Only 30 years ago, we were the Afghans on the Adriatic coast, desperately trying to escape the Red Taliban of Tirana, and who during the war in Kosovo opened our doors to shelter a half-million refugees escaping the ethnic cleansing of Serbia under Slobodan Milosevic.

We are well acquainted with all sides of tyranny, both when left in the hands of a brutal regime and when seeking to build a new life as refugees in other countries. Those experiences have taught us that it is not danger that creates fear, but fear that creates danger.

Albania is neither large nor rich. It is not detached from the complex realities of Europe, including how immigration is often perceived as a burden. We know that fear of strangers affects polling, elections and the commitments of parties and politicians seeking to win office, and we respect the difficult choices all other countries have to make. But, when confronted with life-or-death choices concerning people whom we are honor-bound to help, our path is obvious.

To fail to act now would mean to turn our backs on our own history and to forget what we have learned from the tragedies of the past century. It would be to neglect the memory of many fallen soldiers and to erase the countless sacrifices undertaken over 20 long years on the battlefield, while the Taliban and the cruelties they embody remind humanity once more that evil never dies.

Albania is ready to handle its share of the burden that all NATO countries must carry together. But now I ask: if even Albania, the Alliances poorest member, can manage its share of the burden, who among other NATO member states cannot? And what political excuse can be powerful enough to defeat our basic human obligations?

There is too much finger pointing and not enough hand-raising for humanity. The founding principle of NATO is that an attack on one is an attack on all. So, too, should a humanitarian challenge as big as the NATO is leaving behind in Afghanistan be embraced by all.

Edi Rama is the prime minister of Albania.Project Syndicate, 2021

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NATO has a responsibility to save Afghans - The Japan Times

As the Taliban celebrated its victory over the US and other foreign forces following a 20-year battle, Nato secretary general Jens Stolenberg on Tuesday said that Afghans who wished to leave their home country, but were unable to, wont be forgotten.

In an interview with AFP, Stolenberg noted that its vital to keep Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport open both to enable humanitarian aid to the Afghan people and also to make sure that we can continue to get people out those who wished to but couldnt make an escape via the military evacuation.

We will not forget them, Stolenberg was quoted as saying.

The Nato chief also lauded Turkey, its member, for offering to play a role in operating the Kabul airport as the Taliban attempt to get it functional, and also thanked nearly 800 Nato civilian staff for their help in managing the airlift.

We will continue to work with Nato allies and other countries to help people leave. The Taliban has clearly stated that people will be allowed to leave, we will judge the Taliban not on what they say, but by what they do, he pointed out.

Stolenberg also stressed that allied forces would maintain diplomatic pressure on the Islamist insurgents on permitting remaining Afghan nationals who had worked for the foreign forces, and now feel at risk, to leave the country.

Notably, the last US military flight flew out of the Kabul airport late on Monday ending a two-decade-long presence of Western forces in Afghanistan. According to the latest update by the White House, the US and coalition aircraft evacuated over 123,000 civilians that were all enabled by US military service members.

Since August 14, U.S. military aircraft evacuated more than 79,000 civilians from Kabul. This includes 5,526 Americans, and more than 73,500 third country nationals and Afghan civilians. This last category includes SIVs (Special Immigrant Visas), consular staff, at-risk Afghans and their families, another tweet by the White House on Tuesday morning read.

Stolenberg further stated that Nato will use its political, diplomatic, [and] economic leverage to make sure that people are able to still leave Afghanistan. This is important because the Nato allies have been there for so many years, he was quoted as saying by AFP.

Going forward, the Nato chief said the 30-member western alliance would have to carefully look as to what went wrong in their mission to build an Afghan government and a military capable enough to dethrone the Taliban.

Watch | Taliban fire guns in celebration as US troop withdrawal concludes | Afghanistan

"These are among the hard questions we have to ask, when we now will have a process where we're going to assess, analyse, and have our lessons learned process in NATO," he added.

Such questions, Stolenberg said, will help them understand better both what went wrong, and also to gauge achievements they made in Afghanistan, not least when it comes to fighting terrorism.

A few days before, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had said that the US troops were taking away Afghan experts such as engineers from the country that the insurgents need, and had also asked for the same to be stopped.

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We'll not forget them: Nato chief on Afghans left behind after US troops left - Hindustan Times

Former British diplomat Sir Nicholas Kay served as his countrys envoy and NATOs senior civilian representative in Afghanistan between 2017 and 2020. In a wide-ranging interview with Radio Azadi, he says the Taliban will need to demonstrate its counterterrorism commitments as Western nations will continue to see the Islamic State militants as a threat.

Radio Azadi: What was the main goal of the United States and NATO allies during their 20-year presence in Afghanistan, and do you see it as being achieved?

Nicholas Kay: As we look back to September 2001, I think we know that there was one very clear goal. And then a second was always a little bit less clear, but quite important. But the first clear goal was to stop any more international terrorist attacks like 9/11 from happening again, plotted from, organized from coming from Afghanistan. And for 20 years that has been successful. The question of course is, is that sustainable? Will that continue to be the case?

The second aim is also important. There were many people back in 2001, 2002 who were advising their governments that if you want Afghanistan never to be a haven and incubator of international terrorism, then really you are going to have to stay for a long time to help Afghans recover what they had lost in the last 30 years of war. What they had lost was functioning institutions, good governance; they had lost an economy that worked. They had lost much of the infrastructure. They had lost health care and education. And without helping Afghans recover that, there was always a question mark as to how long it would remain free from terrorist bases and international jihadist movements.

Radio Azadi: A UN report in June suggested the Taliban still maintains close ties with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network despite signing a peace deal with the United States in which it committed to fight militant groups. The Taliban slammed the report as baseless and bigoted. How can the Taliban's departure from such groups be verifiable and monitorable?

Kay: Yes, you are right. Al-Qaeda was the group behind the 9/11 attacks, and the aim was very much to ensure Al-Qaeda could not operate in Afghanistan successfully against the West and against international targets.

I have seen the UN report and I have seen other reports as well, and I am very much in the camp of those who believe the links between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban continue. There are links -- in some cases family links, practical links, hosting links, tolerating, and to some extent financial links, as well.

I don't think the agreement even with the U.S. the Taliban signed was necessarily about the Taliban agreeing to fight Al-Qaeda. They said they would not allow Afghanistans soil to be used for international terrorist attacks and they would sort of distance themselves from terrorist groups but nothing as specific as fighting them, and I think this is one of the biggest worries that the Taliban need to show very clearly that they are not harboring, supporting, nurturing, enabling Al-Qaeda.

Radio Azadi: The Islamic State-Khorasan branch recently claimed responsibility for a deadly attack near Kabul airport that killed dozens of Afghans as well as 13 American soldiers. How worrying is the presence of IS affiliates in Afghanistan?

Kay: Yes, it was a horrendous attack that rightly everybody has condemned for the loss of lives of Afghans and U.S. soldiers. The presence of ISIS is a worry. They have been as we know present now for about five years despite the efforts of the government of Afghanistan, the United States, and also the efforts of the Taliban.

Theyve continued to have operational capabilities that are based in different parts of Kunar in Nangarhar and one or two places elsewhere. They are able to conduct horrific terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. My worry is that they will also continue to attract foreign fighters, foreign Islamist terrorist groups and that they will not confine their operations to Afghanistan. This is the biggest concern for counter-terrorism work in Afghanistan.

Radio Azadi: NATO fought the Taliban for nearly 20 years. Is there any room for potential cooperation between NATO members and the Taliban similar to NATO's past cooperation with Afghan governments?

Kay: We are all now in a new reality where the Taliban control most of the country and are the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan. We have to adapt. I think we adapt slowly, cautiously, and step by step. We don't jump ahead and jump across rivers until you get to them.

The first [step] is to build confidence. The Taliban need to build confidence both with the international partners and with the Afghan people. And I think how they do that will determine how much we can cooperate with Afghanistan.

The first thing they need to do is to ensure safe passage for Afghans who want to leave the country and have the right to go to other countries. And thats very important that they demonstrate that they are prepared that they give that safe passage. That will build confidence with international partners but also with Afghans.

Second, they need an inclusive government, a really inclusive government that brings all of the Afghans together. To do that, the Taliban need to create the conditions; they need to show that they are changed from what they were from 1996-2001.

If the Taliban start to demonstrate those kinds of characteristics -- trustworthy partner for Afghans, trustworthy partner for internationals about safe passage -- then I think there will be more cooperation that is possible. But its early days.

Whats clear is that there is no time for delay in humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan. Its very important that the international community separates the question of humanitarian assistance, development assistance. Humanitarian assistance to keep people alive is very important.

Radio Azadi: The United States has frozen billions of dollars worth of Afghan assets. Is this the only way to put pressure on the Taliban? How can the international community avert a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan?

Kay: Yeah. There [are] two points. The first point [is that] there is money needed for health, education, water, shelter, and essentially for food and there [are] big food shortages and insecurity. That money would normally go to UN agencies and international NGOs from Western countries and donors, and I see no reason at all why that should not continue to happen and should be increased because the needs are increasing.

The second is money that the Afghan government oversees which has been frozen. Not having access to that money is causing immediate harm to Afghans; the banks are closed, food prices are rising, inflation is increasing. There is an argument for allowing a certain amount of that money to be released, it's [the] Afghan peoples money. Its not Taliban money. And that would help release some of the immediate pressure. But the $9 billion of Afghan reserves is something that for the moment would be wise to keep for the Afghan people and not to allow it to go to the Taliban.

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Former NATO Envoy Says Islamic State Is Afghanistans Biggest Threat - Gandhara

VILNIUS Denmark and Portugal on Tuesday took over NATO's Baltic air-policing mission replacing the Spanish contingent following the completion of its four-month rotation, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

The Danes and the Portuguese will patrol Baltic airspace using eight F-16 fighter jets.

According to Deputy Defense Minister Vilius Semeska, the continuous air policing mission sends a strong message about NATOs solidarity and makes an important contribution to deterrence and peace keeping in our region.

This is the eighth time Denmark contributes to the mission and the fifth Baltic air-policing deployment for Portugal.

The Danish fighter jets are accompanied by a contingent of up to 100 troops, including pilots, technicians, medical personnel, support staff, communication and other specialists.

Portugal will provide augmentation of the NATO air policing mission by deploying additional 100 troops.

The NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission has been continuously performed since 2004.

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Denmark and Portugal take over NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission from Spain - Baltic Times

Former NATO leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen congratulates Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis for his stance on Taiwan. (Twitter, Lithuani... Former NATO leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen congratulates Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis for his stance on Taiwan. (Twitter, Lithuania MFA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Former North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday (Sept. 1) he had written a letter to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis expressing his support for developing relations with Taiwan.

The Baltic nation has been targeted with sanctions from China after announcing it would allow the Taiwanese government to open a representative office in its capital Vilnius using the name Taiwan.

In a letter published on his Twitter account, Rasmussen said he congratulated the courageous decision of the Lithuanian government to develop links with Taiwan. He described the East Asian nation as a full member of the democratic family and said cooperation with it was vital.

The Danish politician urged Lithuania to keep standing firm against threats of sanctions from China. Europeans must demonstrate resolve and unity when it came to Europes core values, Rasmussen wrote.

He concluded that the name for the Taiwanese office in Vilnius should be maintained, as it did not contradict the European Unions one China policy.

Lithuanias Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted in reply that Landsbergis expressed his gratitude for the letter. Taiwan also thanked Rasmussen for his rock-solid support, agreeing that democracies in the EU and around the world needed to stand united in resisting coercion & authoritarianism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) tweeted.

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Former NATO chief writes letter to Lithuania backing ties with Taiwan - Taiwan News

RT published this video item, entitled Taliban Mocks NATO Allies By Parading Around Mock Coffins below is their description.

Streaming: Thur 12 PM EST

Coffins draped in the flags of the US and NATO allies were a part of a mock funeral carried out by Taliban supporters in the eastern city of Khost in Afghanistan to celebrate the end of western presence in the region.

Videos being shared widely on social media on Tuesday showed supporters also used British and French flags to drape the coffins, while some showed off their guns at the mock funeral.

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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Iran to the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north; and China to the northeast.

Occupying 652,000 square kilometers (252,000 sq mi), it is a mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest. Kabul is the capital and largest city. The population is around 32 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks.

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Taliban Mocks NATO Allies By Parading Around Mock Coffins - The Global Herald - The Global Herald

More News02 Sep 2021 | 11:01 PM

Dhaka, Sept 2(UNI) The New Development Bank (NDB) established by the BRICS ((Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in 2015 on Thursday approved Bangladesh as its new member.

Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Sep 2 (UNI) In an open gesture of support to the Afghan resistance movement in Panjshir province, Tajikistan has bestowed its highest honour posthumously on legendary Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, whose son is leading the fight against the Taliban in the northeastern Afghan province.

Kabul, Sep 2 (UNI/SPUTNIK) Pakistan closed the busy Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan on Thursday, the Geo TV news channel reported, after Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed expressed security concerns.

Moscow, Sep 2 (UNI/SPUTNIK) Nigeria expects Russia to contribute to fighting terrorism in Nigeria, as the Boko-Haram terrorist group along with other armed groups have intensified their activities, Nigerian Ambassador to Russia Abdullahi Shehu told Sputnik.

Athens, Sep 2 (UNI/XINHUA) Renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis passed away on Thursday at the age of 96, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

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NATO chief gives medal to alliance's representative in Afghanistan for work on evacuations - United News of India