Afghanistan: Pradié denounces "a form of collective cowardice and powerlessness" of the West

Afghanistan is now in the hands of the Taliban.

Scenes of chaos are relayed on social networks, while foreign powers evacuate their nationals.

For Aurélien Pradié, LR deputy for Lot and president of the France-Afghanistan friendship group in the National Assembly, this offensive is "a collective failure" for Western countries, he points to Europe 1.

INTERVIEW

Scenes of chaos that make the planet shudder.

On Monday, Afghanistan was in the hands of the Taliban after the capture of Kabul, the capital of the country, and the flight abroad of the president, Ashraf Ghani.

Twenty years after being ousted from power by a US-led coalition, the Taliban are once again in control of the country.

For the Republican deputy of the first constituency of Lot, Aurélien Pradié, this takeover translates "a bitter failure for the Western forces", he explains on Europe 1.

A foreign helplessness 

"There is a form of collective cowardice and powerlessness," continues the parliamentarian, deploring the inaction of Western forces in recent weeks. "What is happening in Afghanistan today says a lot about what the Western power has become in recent decades: a great weakness. Today we no longer know how to accompany towards the freedom of countries." The Taliban launched an offensive in May, as the withdrawal of foreign troops began. In ten days, the radical Islamist movement regained control of almost the entire country, bringing down one provincial capital after another before conquering Kabul.

"We have injected billions of euros in this country, we have lost lives because several of our soldiers died there and finally, we did not succeed in bringing about an autonomy of freedom. In Afghanistan, it is a collective failure ", deplores Aurélien Pradié, president of the France-Afghanistan friendship group in the National Assembly.

"It is also the demonstration that the West has become an almost dead star. What is happening in Afghanistan is the mirror of what we are no longer, we, the West."

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This defeat also signals the debacle of the Afghan authorities and security forces, even though they had been financed by the United States for years, who were unable to cope with the offensive.

"I am not sure that the Afghan authorities, for several months, were perfectly up to the situation, but in the same way, the American authorities were not," notes the deputy from Lot.

"And the great nations of the world, France has not been either."

A security threat 

There, the Afghans fear the return of the regime in place from 1996 to 2001, when the Taliban imposed an ultra-rigorous version of Islamic law.

During this offensive, the Taliban however promised that no one would have anything to fear from them or that the young girls could go back to school.

In a video posted on social media, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Taliban, called on his troops to be disciplined.

"Now is the time to assess and prove, now we must show that we can serve our nation and ensure safety and comfort in life," he said.

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For Aurélien Pradié, these statements are only pretenses.

"The Taliban have not changed," he says forcefully.

"They are the same terrorists as a few years ago."

And behind "the moral requirement" to support freedom in the world, Aurélien Pradié sees this dramatic invasion as a new security threat.

"Understand that when the Taliban master all the keys to a state, including financial means, then they can even better organize directly or indirectly the formation of terrorist actions", assures the deputy. 

A welcome for defenders of freedom

France is preparing by Monday evening to evacuate its last nationals from Afghanistan, while Emmanuel Macron is due to speak at 8 p.m. to detail his strategy in the face of this international crisis. Other Western powers have also launched evacuation operations. On the spot, the locals worry about not being able to find refuge in other countries. Several calls are multiplying to welcome the fleeing population. "I am one of those who consider that our duty is to welcome all those who have helped to bring freedom to life in Afghanistan and who are in danger in the face of the Taliban", assures Aurélien Pradié. "This is not the moment for France to play the small accountants." 

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On the other hand, the deputy differentiates the right of asylum and immigration.

"Among the wave of immigration, there will be benevolent men and women and others who will not," he said.

"It has been difficult to have information for a few hours and that will be the great challenge of the days and months to come."

"It is possible that the Taliban will release from Afghan prisons those who have been terrorists and who, for their part, may be part of a migratory wave with much less benevolence than the defenders of freedom", specifies the deputy.

"And this is where we have a real migratory challenge."