BOURNEMOUTH MP Tobias Ellwood has said that the West should “hang its head in shame” and that a “full-scale civil war” will ensue following Britain’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, Mr Ellwood said that “the world is a little bit more dangerous” as news came in overnight that the Taliban had regained the capital city Kabul.
The Taliban stormed Kabul unopposed and have seized the presidential palace, although Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is said to have fled the country, reportedly to Uzbekistan.
The Bournemouth MP who was a former captain in the British Army and now chairs the Defence Select Committee, says the insurgence could lead to a terrorist attack on the UK.
The Conservative MP for Bournemouth East said: “The world is a little bit more dangerous because enow they have taken control of the country.
“The West should really hang its head in shame after abruptly abandoning Afghanistan to a civil war after two decades of effort.
“This was a country that as making progress, lets be clear. The last three years, we weren’t discussing or debating Afghanistan. It was out of the news, but our work was not complete.
“We were providing a deterrent. We had minimal support there and once that was removed, I’m afraid, by President Trump and then by Biden, the Taliban were free to advance.”
“Let me stress, do not believe for a second that this will be a conflict free transition to this dictatorship. The Taliban is far from universally liked across Afghanistan.
“There are many tribes, including Pashtun tribes, that have been caught off guard, they have dispersed.
“They will now rearm and regroup, and they will be supported by countries surrounding Afghanistan, who will now interfere, and a new Northern Alliance will now be created, and that will lead to a full-scale civil war.”
In a matter of days, The Taliban have regained control of over half of Afghanistan's provincial capitals.
Following a Cobra meeting held on Sunday, Boris Johnson called on countries not to recognise the Taliban as a legitimate government without international agreement.
When asked whether is it too late for the US and UK to intervene, Tobias Ellwood said: “That is a really big question, and one I hope we might debate when Parliament will be recalled on Wednesday, but certainly the window of opportunity is closing.
“The folly of our decision to follow the United States I do not comprehend. This is a massive strategic error and the long-term consequences of this we will regret.
“We are not just gifting this country to the very adversary that we entered Afghanistan in the first place, we are actually now seeing terrorist organisation regroup and turn back to their havens in the country itself.
“I really sadly predict another major hit on the West, the likes of 9/11, because the terrorist organisations would want to bookend our time in Afghanistan to show how futile the last two decades have been.”
When asked about whether Britain’s actions to remove troops from the country leads the UK open to future terrorist attacks, Tobias Ellwood said: “Oh completely, because this will be the point that these terrorist groups, and indeed the Taliban, will want to make.
“What this will be is a poke in the eye to the West.
“We had this G7 Summit in Cornwall, here in the UK, which was all about the West regrouping with more resolve and determination for what we stand for, what we believe in, what we are willing to defend.
“How often did we hear that term ‘Global Britain’? Even President Biden was saying ‘America is back’ and yet, here we are, defeated.
“The biggest military hi-tech alliance we have ever created, defeated by an insurgency armed simply with AK-47s and landmines. This is not a good day for the West at all.”
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