Gavin Grey: Ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair slams Afghan withdrawal

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · Aug 22, 2021 · 2m

Tony Blair, the British prime minister who deployed troops to Afghanistan 20 years ago after the 9/11 attacks, says the U.S. decision to withdraw from the country has “every Jihadist group round the world cheering.”

In a lengthy essay posted on his website late Saturday, the former Labour Party leader said the sudden and chaotic pullout that allowed the Taliban to reclaim power risked undermining everything that had been achieved in Afghanistan over the past two decades, including advances in living standards and the education of girls.

"The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is…