LONDON: British defense secretary Ben Wallace held tears Monday because he admitted that Britain was unlikely to be able to evacuate all Afghan allies from Kabul.
Wallace, who served as captain of Scottish guards before entering politics in the late 1990s, has been in the past few days voicing regret for the sudden confiscation of Afghanistan by Taliban militants.
He was openly worried about the potential for Returning Qaida and instability in Afghanistan and criticized US President Donald Trump’s agreement signed with the Taliban in February 2020 which was limited to rebels.
But it was during the morning media round on Monday, the day after the Kabul fell, Wallace briefly offered a glimpse into the tension that had been underneath.
Speaking through the webcam on the LBC radio, Wallace’s voice began to tremble when he began to describe his regret to British inability to get all the Afghans who qualified back to England in the coming days.
“This is a very deep part of regret for me that some people will not return,” he said.
“Some people will not return and we have to do their best in the third country to process those people.” When asked why he was so personal for him, Wallace’s voice began to vibrate again.
“Because I’m a soldier,” he said.
“Because it is sad and the West has done what it does and we have to do our best to get people out and support our obligations and 20 years of sacrifice – is what they are.” Wallace last week gave authority to the spread of 600 British soldiers to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of 4,000 English citizens and Afghan allies who had helped over the past 20 years.
The first flight of citizens and the British Embassy arrived at RAF Brive Norton, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of London, on Sunday night.
Without explicitly criticizing US President Joe Biden’s decision to announce the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan on September 11, a 20-year anniversary of the attack on New York and Washington DC, Wallace’s words suggested that he thought the road was different Trodden.
British troops played an important role in Afghanistan for the past two decades and suffered 457 victims, especially in the southern province of Helmand.
In addition to their combat roles, they help train Afghan army forces and support various projects to improve education, especially for girls, health care, economic growth and regional governance.