As lawmakers increasingly questioned the continued presence of US forces in Afghanistan, America’s special envoy for Af-Pak region Richard Holbrooke has warned that a “return” of Al Qaeda and the Taliban to the war-torn country would have regional repercussions extending from Beirut to the Himalayas.
At a Congressional hearing, Mr Holbrooke argued that the US would not be choosing to fight on the most remote and difficult terrain in the world if it had not been attacked on September 11, 2001.
His remarks came as several lawmakers sought the justification of spending tax payers’ money for the continued presence of the US forces in Afghanistan.
“If the outcome is not a good one, Al Qaeda will return to Afghanistan with the Taliban, and there will be regional repercussions that will extend from Beirut to the Himalayas, so we have to deal with those,” Mr Holbrooke said replying to a question.
However, he informed the Congressmen that the Obama administration has scaled down its goal in Afghanistan as against those of the previous Bush administration.
“When we took office, we inherited a mission statement from the previous administration, which I don’t know if it was public or not, but it was extraordinarily ambitious. It was creating a modern state, a modern democracy in Afghanistan, with limited resources,” he said.
“The US President narrowed the mission to a reasonable, achievable goal, and increased the resources. That was the core of what we did in Afghanistan,” he said.