Politics & Government
George W. Bush Opposes End Of Afghanistan War
The former president told a German broadcaster he's afraid of what the U.S. withdrawal will mean for women and girls in the country.
WASHINGTON — George W. Bush, the U.S. president at the start of the Afghanistan war, has said he opposes the war coming to an end.
Bush told German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle he is “afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm” as troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan this year as the 20-year war comes to a close, The Washington Post and others have reported.
“I think it is,” Bush said, when asked if ending the war is a mistake. “I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad. And I’m sad. (Former first lady, Bush’s wife) Laura and I spent a lot of time with Afghan women. And they’re scared.”
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Women were not allowed to work, go to school or travel outside their home without a male guardian under Taliban rule, according to The Post report. Even now, women in Afghanistan are mostly absent from public life, and face the same Taliban-era dress restrictions.
“I think about all the interpreters and people that helped — not only U.S. troops, but NATO troops — and they’re just, it seems like they’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people,” Bush said.
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President Joe Biden announced earlier this year that the war, launched in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, will be coming to an end. It effectively already has, with the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller leaving his post earlier this week.
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