WASHINGTON - US President Trump’s former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster says that Trump Administration’s withdrawal plan from Afghanistan is “an unwise policy.”
In an interview with the CBS News, the retired lieutenant general claimed that Trump with his new policy is “partnering with the Taliban against the Afghan government.”
“I think what [President Trump] did with this new policy, is he, in effect, is partnering with the Taliban against, in many ways, the Afghan government. And so, I think that it’s an unwise policy. And I think what we require in Afghanistan is a sustained commitment to help the Afghan government,” McMaster told the CBS.
The US and the Taliban signed a deal in February in Doha for bringing peace in Afghanistan.
According to the deal, the US committed to pulling out all of its troops from Afghanistan within 14 months.
In return, the Taliban pledged to cut ties with al-Qaeda and prevent terrorist groups from operating in the country and to start the peace talks with the government of Afghanistan.
Since February, the US has drawn the level of its forces down to 8,600 from 13,000 and has stated a further drawdown to 4,500 will be done by November.
Trump’s former national security adviser, however, calls the US troops drawdown in Afghanistan “a big mistake.”
He told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that Trump’s plan to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and his negotiations with the Taliban has made the U.S. less safe.
“Terrorist organizations who pose a threat to us are stronger now than they were on September 10, 2001. Those who perpetrated the mass murder attacks of 9/11 were the mujahideen-era alumni of the resistance to Soviet occupation in Afghanistan,” McMaster told CBS News.
“Today, we are facing an Al-Qaeda and an ISIS alumni that is orders of magnitude greater than that mujahideen-era alumni ever was. And they also have access to much more destructive capabilities,” McMaster adds.
McMaster’s interview with CBS will be aired as part of the 53rd season premiere of “60 Minutes” on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. local time. (ATN)