U.S.-Taliban deal biggest factor in collapse of Afghan forces

18/5/2022 15:08

        The biggest factor that led to the collapse of the Afghan military in August last year was the U.S. decision to withdraw forces and contractors from Afghanistan through an agreement with the Taliban signed by the Trump administration and executed by the Biden administration.
        
        According to an assessment by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which was made public late Tuesday, the withdrawal "destroyed" the morale of the Afghan military as it was dependent on U.S. military support.
        
        The report, "SIGAR found that the single most important factor in the ANDSF's (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) collapse in August 2021 was the U.S. decision to withdraw military forces and contractors from Afghanistan through signing the U.S.-Taliban agreement in February 2020 under the Trump administration, followed by President Biden's withdrawal announcement in April 2021."
        
        Under U.S. President Joe Biden's Republican predecessor Donald Trump, the United States made a deal with the Islamist Taliban to withdraw all American forces.