Brussels-Sana
The representative of the European Union's security and foreign policy, Joseph Borrell, stressed that the extremist Taliban movement's control over Afghanistan again constitutes a disaster and a nightmare caused by a Western intelligence failure and the United States abandoning its commitment to this country.
The Associated Press quoted Borrell as telling a committee in the European Parliament that US President Joe Biden said recently that the reconstruction of Afghanistan was never the goal of the Western military campaign led by Washington on this country, and this is a controversial saying, and after twenty years of existence in this country, we failed to this mission.
The European official also criticized the failure of Western intelligence agencies to predict the collapse of the Afghan army in days, not months, saying, "Where was our intelligence to see clearly what was happening, that no one expected that, not even the Taliban."
In turn, the governor of Bavaria and a prominent member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party (Marcus Soeder) blamed the United States for the miserable situation in Afghanistan and the Taliban's control of the country, saying that Washington should now provide refuge, shelter and money for the fugitives from Afghanistan.
He added that the US authorities have already given security guarantees for the evacuation of its diplomatic team of foreigners and local workers in Kabul, and they should also provide financial support to neighboring countries and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in particular and open its doors to Afghan citizens as well if necessary.