柏林——前总统乔治·w·布什在接受一家德国广播公司周三发布的采访时批评了西方从阿富汗撤军,称他担心阿富汗妇女和女孩将“遭受无法形容的伤害。”
在接受德国国际广播公司Deutsche Welle采访时,当被问及撤军是否是一个错误时,布什回答说:“你知道,我认为是,是的,因为我认为后果将是难以置信的糟糕。”
阿富汗战争始于2001年9月11日美国遭受袭击后布什执政时期。华盛顿向塔利班领导人毛拉·奥马尔发出最后通牒:交出基地组织领导人奥萨马·本·拉登,并拆除激进分子训练营,否则就准备遭受袭击。奥马尔拒绝了,以美国为首的联军于10月发动了入侵。
现任总统今年早些时候启动了美国和北约部队的撤离乔·拜登现已接近完成。塔利班武装分子一直在一个又一个地区横行,控制了该国大片地区。
在标志着即将离任的德国总理安格拉·默克尔对美国的最后一次正式访问的德国之行采访中,布什表示,默克尔支持在阿富汗的部署,部分原因是“她看到了阿富汗年轻女孩和妇女可以取得的进步。”
布什说:“令人难以置信的是,这个社会是如何从塔利班的残暴中转变过来的,突然间——可悲的是——我担心阿富汗妇女和女孩将遭受难以形容的伤害。
在1990年代末塔利班统治期间,妇女基本上被限制在家里,女孩没有受教育的机会。尽管遭到美国和欧洲的抗议,塔利班还是实施了极端版本的伊斯兰教法。然而,没有针对女孩和妇女的大规模暴力。
布什说:“我很难过。“劳拉(布什)和我花了很多时间和阿富汗妇女在一起,她们很害怕。我想到所有不仅帮助过美国军队,也帮助过北约军队的翻译和人们,他们似乎就要被这些非常残暴的人留下来屠杀了。这让我心碎。”
Bush criticizes Afghanistan withdrawal, fears for women
BERLIN -- Former President George W. Bush criticized the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan in an interview with a German broadcaster released Wednesday, saying he fears that Afghan women and girls will “suffer unspeakable harm.”
Asked in an interview with German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle whether the withdrawal is a mistake, Bush replied: “You know, I think it is, yeah, because I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad.”
The war in Afghanistan began under Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Washington gave Taliban leader Mullah Omar an ultimatum: hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and dismantle militant training camps or prepare to be attacked. Omar refused, and a U.S.-led coalition launched an invasion in October.
The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops set in motion earlier this year by current PresidentJoe Bidenis now nearing completion. Taliban fighters have been surging through district after district, taking control of large swaths of the country.
In the DW interview, which marked outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel's final official visit to the U.S., Bush said Merkel had supported the deployment in Afghanistan in part “because she saw the progress that could be made for young girls and women in Afghanistan.”
“It's unbelievable how that society changed from the brutality of the Taliban, and all of a sudden — sadly — I'm afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm,” Bush said.
During the Taliban’s rule in the late 1990s, women were largely confined to their homes, and girls had no access to education. Despite protestations from the U.S. and Europe, the Taliban enforced its extreme version of Islamic Shariah law. However, there was no mass violence against girls and women.
“I'm sad,” Bush said. “Laura (Bush) and I spent a lot of time with Afghan women, and they're scared. And I think about all the interpreters and people that helped not only U.S. troops but NATO troops, and it seems like they're just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people. And it breaks my heart."