G7 allies fail to sway Biden on delayed Afghan withdrawal

US leader won't keep troops longer for airlifts; Taliban won't budge, either

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson attends a virtual summit of G7 leaders in London on Tuesday. They discussed how to complete the withdrawal and deal with the Taliban now that they have seized power. (SIMON DAWSON / NO 10 DOWNING STREET / XINHUA)

The United States clashed with some of its closest allies over US President Joe Biden's insistence on sticking to an Aug 31 deadline for the withdrawal of troops intended to shut down a frantic international evacuation effort from Taliban rule.

Biden insisted after virtual talks with other leaders of the G7 group of nations on Tuesday that the US and its closest allies would "stand shoulder to shoulder" in future action over Afghanistan and the Taliban, despite disappointing them in their urgent pleas to allow time for more airlifts from Kabul.

The Western allies have evacuated more than 80,000 people, including their citizens, NATO personnel and Afghans at risk, since Aug 14, the day before the Taliban swept into the capital, Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday.

The US leader was adamant that the risk of terror attacks was too great to accede to appeals from G7 allies to keep what are now 5,800 US troops at Kabul's airport beyond the end of the month, anchoring the airlifts.

The United Kingdom and other allies had urged Biden to keep US forces at the airport longer. No country would be able to evacuate all their citizens and at-risk Afghan allies by the Aug 31 deadline, allied officials had said.

"We will go on right up until the last moment that we can," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had openly lobbied to keep the airport presence after the end of August. He acknowledged he was unable to sway Biden to extend the US military presence in Tuesday's talks.

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Newsweek that as part of the "special relationship" with Washington, British leaders had expected to be consulted on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Illusions punctured

"The withdrawal has punctured common illusions on the extent of Britain's military dependence on the United States," Chalmers told the magazine. "British leaders had convinced themselves that they had real influence in successive wars in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the reality of dependence without influence has been exposed."

Chalmers said that one result of the US move "could be that the UK government will take European defense cooperation more seriously" than it has for many years. "This could be one of the few positive side-effects from this sorry debacle," he said.

A senior French official said President Emmanuel Macron had pushed for extending the deadline but would "adapt" to the US sovereign decision. "That's in the hands of the Americans," he said.

In a partial show of unity, the G7 leaders expressed "grave concern about the situation in Afghanistan", calling for "calm and restraint to ensure the safety and security of vulnerable Afghan and international citizens, and the prevention of a humanitarian crisis".

The leaders said they would "judge the Afghan parties by their actions, not words", echoing previous warnings to the Taliban not to revert to the strict Islamic form of government that they ran when they last held power from 1996 to 2001.

On Monday, CIA chief William Burns met with Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul for talks in which the Taliban underscored they would not accept a US military presence at the airport beyond Aug 31. It was the highest-level meeting so far between the Biden government and the new rulers of Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday also said his group would accept "no extensions "to the deadline.

Amid the chaos in Afghanistan, Biden's approval rating has fallen to the lowest point in his seven-month presidency, with sentiment also influenced by increases in COVID-19 infections, according to a poll by US broadcaster NBC.

The poll, conducted from Aug 14 to 17 and released on Sunday, found 49 percent of respondents approve of Biden's job performance-sliding below 50 percent for the first time, while 48 percent disapprove.

Putin warns of threats

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday criticized the US and its allies for leaving Afghanistan in chaos that raises potential security threats for Russia and its allies in Central Asia.

Addressing a ruling party meeting in the Kremlin, Putin said: "There is a danger that terrorists and different groups that found a refuge in Afghanistan will use the chaos left by our Western colleagues and try to launch an expansion into neighboring countries. That will pose a direct threat to our country and its allies.

"We're not going to meddle in Afghanistan's domestic affairs or involve our military in a conflict where everyone is against each other. The Soviet Union had its own experience in this country. We have learned the lessons we needed," he said.

Agencies, Xinhua, Heng Weili in New York and Bo Leung in London contributed to this story.

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