Former NATO commander "astonished" by Taliban advance, calls withdrawal a "mistake"

In an interview with Deutsche Welle, a former German NATO commander said the rapid Taliban advance in Afghanistan is "astonishing" and questioned the commitment of the Afghan army. Retired four-star General Egon Ramms also described the troop withdrawal as a "mistake."

From 2007 until 2010, Ramms was Commander of the Allied Joint Force, where he oversaw the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan.

"The Taliban are moving forward in a very, very quick way where I say that is astonishing for me," he said.

Ramms questioned why the Afghan forces had not mounted a stronger defence: "We have trained the Afghan National Army and the Americans especially have equipped them quite well. So from that point of view, the question I have is, what is the Afghan army doing right now?"

Ramms said he was left surprised by US President Joe Biden's decision to complete the US troop withdrawal by the end of August, and said the speed of the departure raised questions about the responsibility of NATO.

"I was very astonished when I saw the pictures in German television that the last German soldiers have arrived on an airport in Germany on the 30th of June. So that is very rapidly done and very quickly. So from that point of view, I have to say that was a surprise, a big surprise for me. And I believe it looks a little bit like going out, but not thinking about that could happen in Afghanistan."

Calling it a "mistake," Ramms said that the withdrawal was comparable to the troop reductions that were announced when he was retiring from the ISAF in 2010.

"In 2010 we were talking about the redeployment and the calm down of the ISAF mission, that that was coming too soon, too quickly in 2014. The same mistake I would like to say that we have done at that time, we are just going to conclude that this month." (DW)