Former United States president George W. Bush sharply criticized the country’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, saying that consequences from the decision would be “unbelievably bad and sad.”
Bush spoke with Deutsche Welle in an interview on Wednesday regarding the withdrawal plans, stating that he was afraid that Afghan women would suffer “unspeakable harm” and expressed concern for translators and others who supported foreign troops.
“I think it is [a mistake to withdraw,]” Bush said in the interview.” Because I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably sad and bad.”
Fmr. President Bush has called the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan a mistake.
“I’m afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm,” he said. https://t.co/DHlTXfkmCA
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 14, 2021
Bush also worried about “interpreters” and other personnel that assisted U.S. and foreign troops in Afghanistan, stating that they would be ” left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart.” (RELATED: Pentagon Admits Taliban Advances In Afghanistan Are ‘Concerning)
The former president also expressed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel felt “the same way” regarding the pullout, according to DW.
Biden promised in April that the country would end combat operations by September 11. The planned date was recently moved to August 31, according to Politico.
Since the announcement of the withdrawal date, the Taliban assassinated seven Afghan pilots and freed several prisoners in an attack on Badghis’s provincial capitol of Qala-i-Naw.
#BREAKING Afghanistan troop pullout a ‘mistake’: George W. Bush pic.twitter.com/QQMaIeZbDU
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 14, 2021
The former president also expressed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel felt “the same way” regarding the pullout, according to DW.
Army General Austin “Scott” Miller, who is the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, stepped down earlier this month in a symbolic move that essentially ended on-the-ground combat operations in the country.
Britain has also recently announced a decision to pull all remaining troops out of Afghanistan, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning about certain Taliban takeovers in the country.