Jens Stoltenberg
Michael Hughes: In his farewell address as NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg suggested the weakness of the Afghan central government was decisive in the coalition failing to win the war against the Taliban, and undermined the alliance’s mission, which was justified in pursuit of countering international terrorism.
“After 20 years we were still not winning the war. The Taliban were gaining ground and there were no united Afghan authorities that could take responsibility when we left. The fact that the Afghan Government and the security forces collapsed so quickly, demonstrated why it was right to leave,” Stoltenberg said in remarks at NATO headquarters in Brussels on August 19.
Stoltenberg argued that after the shocking realization the Afghan central government was weak, it was futile for the coalition to stay two more decades.