US military construction efforts in Afghanistan turned to dust: Russian security official
Sep 11, 2021
Moscow [Russia], September 11 : Slamming the Biden administration's handling of US drawdown from Afghanistan, a top Russian security official said the system that Washington established in the troubled country could not survive without their support and US military construction efforts turned to dust after their exit from the landlocked nation.
In an op-ed for the Gazeta.Ru news website, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the US failed in trying to provide military support to the previously established Afghan regime.
"The Pentagon created the Afghan National Security Forces from scratch, trained and armed them. However, the developments of recent months made it clear that they were unable to exist without US support," Medvedev was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.
Last Sunday, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had said the "collapse" of the Afghan army, in the face of Taliban offensive, happened at a much faster rate.
The United States' role in Afghanistan has come under scanner after the Taliban's swift takeover of Kabul, following an offensive that saw the quick fall of the US-trained Afghan army. "The collapse of the Afghan army happened at a much faster rate and (was) very unexpected by pretty much everybody," General Mark Milley had said.
Further attacking the US administration, Dmitry Medvedev said that Afghan armed forces "showed no wish to fight without their sponsors. "They meekly gave up Afghanistan's provinces and even left the country's capital without a fight. All US military construction efforts in Afghanistan turned to dust literally in an instant," he added.
Medvedev stressed that the US military presence in Afghanistan has led to catastrophic consequences including numerous terror attacks and a "drug threat" for the entire world.
"A huge number of terror attacks, the country's population that lost hope for a peaceful future, the drug threat on a global scale, the destruction of the country's socio-economic sphere and political system, hundreds of American soldiers killed and servicemen of other countries perished," he added.
