Afghanistan: Ex-Tory ministers attack Biden over troops pullout

US President Joe Biden was wrong to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, former UK ministers have said.

Johnny Mercer - who served as a commando in Afghanistan before entering politics - told the BBC "pulling the rug like this is appalling".

Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the defence committee, said it was not too late for the UK to remain in Afghanistan.

But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said this was not a viable option without US support.

"As the defence secretary has said, without the US as a framework nation, it was necessary for the UK and NATO to transition to a new phase in their support for the Afghan people," an MoD spokesman said.

Most foreign troops have now pulled out after a US-military campaign that began in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on American soil.

Mr Biden has said he does not regret the decision to pull troops out, despite concern about rapid advances made by Taliban militants.

Mr Mercer, a former defence minister, told the BBC: "Biden has been wrong on almost every major US foreign policy and security issue over the last 40 years; he opposed Obama's surge and oversaw a terrible drawdown in Iraq. He is wrong on this too.

"Of course Afghans have to fight for their country, but maturing an Afghan Army capable of doing so was always going to require an ongoing level of fighting support. Pulling the rug like this is appalling, and we will be feeling the consequences here in the UK for years to come."

Mr Mercer did three tours in Afghanistan as a liaison and training officer with Afghan forces.

Tobias Ellwood told the BBC: "When NATO committed such a formidable military alliance to enter Afghanistan, the objective was to restore peace and establish the democratic building blocks in a volatile country beset by poverty, war and extremism.

"Our hasty withdrawal is an abandonment of that original objective and now once again Afghanistan teeters on the brink of civil war.

"This is a devastating outcome for the 40 million ordinary Afghans and a blow for international standards worldwide."

He said it was not too for the UK to "do the right thing".

"I would urge Britain to remain if we can secure allied support. If it's the right call then we should not be subservient to US political decision-making.

"It's the poor political judgement made by the US over the last two decades that has hampered critical progress being made. And these mistakes must not be repeated."

Announcing the pullout of UK troops in July, Prime minister Boris Johnson told MPs the UK could not "shrink from the hard reality" of the situation in Afghanistan today, adding that there "could never be a perfect moment" for Britain and its allies to leave.

He said the security threat in Afghanistan had been "been greatly diminished by the valour and by the sacrifice" of the armed forces of Britain and other nations.

"We are safer because of everything they did," he told MPs.

But a former UK ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Nicholas Kay, told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme the withdrawal was "premature" and called for "muscular, unceasing diplomacy".

And Former Conservative International Development Secretary Rory Stewart - who quit the party in 2019 - said President Biden should regret the decision to withdraw troops.

"It is grossly damaging, unnecessary and irresponsible and a terrible blight on his presidency - and indeed on the other NATO leaders who went along with it."

Labour's shadow defence secretary John Healey, said the UK's focus must be on supporting the Afghan government and its citizens.

He added: "Troops may be withdrawing but we should not be walking away from the people of Afghanistan, we shouldn't be slashing aid like the government is, and we should be pushing diplomatically with countries in the region to try to support a political process.

There isn't a military solution to this situation, there needs be a political settlement.

"The chief of the defence staff has warned that if Afghanistan becomes a fractured country, the 'ideal conditions' could emerge for international terrorism and violent extremism. No one wants to see a return to those dark days."