Bush: Mistake for Biden to Withdraw US Troops From Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. President George W. Bush, who sent U.S. troops to Afghanistan in 2001 to wipe out training grounds for al-Qaida terrorists after the September 11th attacks, says he thinks it is a mistake for U.S. troops to be pulled out now as Taliban insurgents take control of more and more territory in the country.

Bush, since leaving office in 2009, has rarely commented on the actions of three subsequent U.S. presidents -- Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. But with Biden rapidly pulling American forces out of Afghanistan and saying they all will return home by the end of August, Bush says he is worried how the Taliban, if they take power again after American forces ousted them two decades ago, will treat women and children, along with others who have supported U.S. and NATO forces. In an interview released Wednesday, Bush, from his summer estate in the northeastern U.S., told German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle, “I'm afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm.”