NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations John Manza acknowledged, on Wednesday 27 October, that the speed with which the Afghan government fell was a surprise.
“The way, the speed at which the Afghan government and forces collapsed was certainly not anticipated”, he told a hearing of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence. He added that no one was planning to withdraw in the way it was done. According to Mr Manza, there were no more troops under NATO command in Afghanistan as of 15 July.
Mr Manza explained that it was difficult to train personnel, but that the effectiveness of the Afghan special forces, “feared by the enemy”, had been highlighted. He said progress had also been made with the Afghan Air Force, all the while acknowledging weaknesses in training for aircraft maintenance.
The NATO representative recalled that, according to former President Ashraf Ghani, more than 45,000 Afghan army personnel have died in combat since he took office in September 2014. “Despite the flaws and difficulties, the Afghan forces fought relentlessly to the end, they did not quit”, he added.
Mr Manza also rejected criticism that allies had not been warned of the US decision. “Maybe some people were not happy with the decision, but there was full consultation”, he explained.
NATO is preparing a report on the lessons to be learned from the operation in Afghanistan. According to Mr Manza, the report will be presented on 30 November, ahead of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting. Asked about the value of the NATO mission, Mr Manza was direct. “Was it worth it (going)? It’s very difficult to say, we lost a lot of soldiers, but was the effort motivated by good intentions? Yes. We couldn’t know what the outcome would be, we tried to do the right thing, and then unfortunately it derailed”, he summarised.
On the positive side, Mr Manza explained that the allies had shown unity throughout the mission. “For twenty years, the troops were maintained, the allies stuck together, they were really very supportive”, he said. He added that the mission had helped build interoperability and trust between the allies and that a generation of officers had fought together in Afghanistan.
On the other hand, according to the Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee, Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, France), “out of 72 terrorist organisations listed in the world, 18 are present in Afghanistan”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)