Nato's resolve 'found wanting' during Afghanistan withdrawal

UK's defence secretary says the alliance was not defeated militarily despite Taliban takeover

A Taliban fighter prays next to a demonstration organised by the Afghan Society of Muslim Youth, demanding the release of frozen international money in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP Photo

A Taliban fighter and a group of Afghan men attend Friday prayers in Kabul. AP Photo

Taliban soldiers in Bagram Air Base in Parwan. Reuters

Taliban soldiers Seifatollah and Vasighollah stand in a prison in Bagram Air Base. Reuters

Taliban patrol Kabul. EPA

Vahdat, a Taliban soldier and former prisoner, stands next to exercise equipment in Bagram Air Base. Reuters

A Taliban fighter stands guard near Zanbaq Square in Kabul. AFP

Taliban fighters police a road in Herat. AFP

Nato was not militarily defeated in Afghanistan but its “resolve was found wanting”, the UK’s defence secretary has said.

Ben Wallace also renewed his criticism of the February 2020 Doha Agreement that paved the way for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

Responding to questions from the British MPs following the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan in August, he said it “couldn’t have been more helpful to the regime in achieving its victory”.

Mr Wallace, who recently described the Doha deal as “rotten” despite giving it some initial support last year when it was announced, has previously claimed he tried to convinced “like-minded” allies to stay on in Afghanistan after the US’s planned withdrawal at the end of August.

“No, I don’t think we were defeated,” he said, referring to Nato.

“Our resolve was found wanting, I would say, rather than defeated,” he told the UK Parliament’s defence committee.

Under the 2020 deal that the US agreed to with the Taliban, Washington began reducing its troop numbers and released 5,000 Taliban prisoners in return for a pledge from the hardline group that Al Qaeda would not find safe haven in Afghanistan.

“The US Doha deal and then Nato chose to draw down to leave. They could have said we're not doing a deal and we're staying there,” Mr Wallace said. The forces available to the alliance, he said, were overwhelming.

He was asked what the difference was in arguing Nato was not militarily defeated, when its Afghan partners were overrun by a militant group the alliance had fought for nearly two decades.

“I think the difference is Nato was there to enable a political resolution and political campaign. I think that is what failed.

“We were the enabler. The military were there to put in place the security environment in order to try and deliver that. When that is withdrawn, that's when you find out whether your political campaign has worked. And I think what we discovered is it didn't work. It was the western resolve and the western political narrative or political foundations they had laid [that] failed.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives to board an aircraft from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland for travel to Doha, Qatar and Ramstein, Germany. AP

A satellite image shows grounded aircraft at the Mazar-i-Sharif airport in northern Afghanistan. Maxar Technologies via AFP

The Mazar-i-Sharif airport in northern Afghanistan. Maxar Technologies via AFP

Schoolgirls on their way home in Kabul. EPA

People sell petrol on a roadside in Kabul. EPA

Members of Jiye Sindh Mahaz party protest against plans to accept Afghan refugees in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan has shut its doors to Afghan refugees following the Taliban's takeover of the country. About 1. 4 million Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan legally, while around another million are undocumented. EPA

Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat speaks in Paris, France, before attending a gathering held to show solidarity with the women of Afghanistan. AP

Protesters are reflected in the sunglasses worn by a demonstrator during a rally in support of Afghanistan's people, at the Place de la Republique, in Paris. AFP

A man holds the Afghan national flag as he takes part in a rally in support of Afghanistan's people, at the Place de la Republique, in Paris. AFP

An Afghan man rides a bicycle past a barrier wall in Kabul. AFP

A member of the Taliban forces stands guard at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters

Passengers disembark on arrival from Kandahar at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters

A general view of the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters

A suspected ISIS member sits blindfolded in a Taliban Special Forces car in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters

An entrance of the Maintenance Group Command at the military airfield in Kabul. Reuters

Damaged Afghan military aircraft are parked in a hangar after the Taliban's takeover of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. AP

An Afghan military helicopter at the airport in Kabul. AP

A Taliban fighter rests while on duty at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. AP

A burqa-clad woman sells face masks to commuters at a traffic intersection in Kabul. AFP

Passengers board an Ariana Afghan Airlines aircraft for a domestic flight, at the airport in Kandahar. Afghanistan's major airports reopened for domestic flights on September 4. EPA

Foreign currency traders carry out their tasks after the money market and other financial services providers reopened for business in Kabul. AFP

Foreign currency dealers transact in Kabul. AFP

A Taliban fighter stands guard as people move past him at a market with shops dealing in foreign currency, in Kabul. AFP

Workers and volunteers load a shipment of humanitarian aid to be sent to Afghanistan at Bahrain International Airport on Muharraq Island, near the capital Manama. AFP

Official spokeswoman of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management in Qatar, Lolwah Al Khater, and UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths visit the Park View Villas, in Doha, which is now housing Afghan refugees. AFP

Fifa president Gianni Infantino, centre, plays football with people flown from Afghanistan at Park View Villas, Doha. Accommodation built in Qatar for the 2022 Fifa World Cup has now assumed a different role from that envisaged by the organising committee - housing Afghan refugees. AFP

Back row, from left, Matthijs Wouter Knol, Sahraa Karimi, Sarah Mani and Mike Downey, and front row, from left, Orwa Nyrabia and Vanja Kaludjercic during the International Panel on Afghanistan and the situation of Afghan filmmakers and artists at the 78th annual Venice International Film Festival, in Italy. EPA

US Air Force Brigadier General Gerald Donohue speaks during a media briefing at Al Udeid airbase in Doha, Qatar. Reuters

A vendor displays guns for sale at a market in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. AFP

Customers wait outside a bank on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters

Vehicles loaded with shipping containers wait to cross into Afghanistan, at the Friendship Gate crossing point, in the border town of Chaman, Pakistan. Reuters

People queue outside a bank to withdraw money in the Shar-e-Naw district of Kabul. AFP

But Mr Wallace insisted that the initial mission to Afghanistan in 2001 after 9/11 had been a success because of its counter-terrorism efforts.

“Al Qaeda did not mount successfully a terrorist attack on the United Kingdom or her allies from Afghanistan. For many soldiers that is very important.”

However, he conceded that “it is highly likely that we will see a return to Al Qaeda and an increasing threat coming from Afghanistan”.

As the Taliban continue their advance in the summer, Mr Wallace said in July the “game was up”.

“I took the view that the game was up and that we should start the process of significantly drawing down so we were not found to be caught out."