Sunday, 02 May 2021 (YJC)_US general said amid the withdrawal of American troops accelerates in the coming weeks, Afghan government forces will face an uncertain future against Taliban.
Afghan government forces face an uncertain future and some “bad possible outcomes” against Taliban insurgents as the withdrawal of American and coalition troops accelerates in the coming weeks, the top US military officer said on Sunday.
Gen Mark Milley said the Afghan military and police were “reasonably well equipped, reasonably well trained, reasonably well led”. He cited years of experience against a resilient insurgency but declined to say Afghan forces were fully ready to stand up to the Taliban without direct international backing.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, spoke to reporters flying with him from Hawaii to Washington, hours after the formal start of the withdrawal. Asked if he believes the Afghan forces can hold up under increased strain, Milley was noncommittal.
“Your question: the Afghan army, do they stay together and remain a cohesive fighting force or do they fall apart? I think there’s a range of scenarios here, a range of outcomes, a range of possibilities,” he said.
“On the one hand you get some really dramatic, bad possible outcomes. On the other hand, you get a military that stays together and a government that stays together.
“Which one of these options obtains and becomes reality at the end of the day? We frankly don’t know yet. We have to wait and see how things develop over the summer.”
He said there was “at least still the possibility” of a negotiated political settlement between the government in Kabul and the Taliban. This, he said, would avoid the “massive civil war” some fear.
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