"It is a mistake"; The evacuation commenced

"It is a mistake"; The evacuation commenced

U.S. troops were sent to Afghanistan by George W. Bush in 2001, with the aim of destroying the training camps for al-Qaeda terrorists after the terrorist attacks on September 11.

Since leaving the White House in 2009 after two terms, Bush has rarely commented on the moves of three later presidents, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, the Voice of America reported.

But as Biden is rapidly withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan and announcing that everyone will return home by the end of August, Bush has said he worries about how the Taliban will treat women, children and all those who supported US and NATO forces, if they come to power again after U.S. forces ousted them two decades ago.

Speaking to German Deutsche Welle from his summer estate in the northeastern United States, Bush said:

“I'm afraid Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm.

”Asked if it is a mistake for Biden to pull troops out of Afghanistan, Bush said, “I think it is, yeah, because I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad, and I’m sad.”

The Taliban claim to already control 85% of the country, a figure disputed by the United States, although Pentagon officials have expressed concern about their takeover of Afghan territory and advances towards the capital Kabul.

Already, more Afghans are said to live in territory controlled by the Taliban than that overseen by the Afghan government.

"Bush launched the U.S. war in Afghanistan in his first year in office in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3.000 people in the U.S. American forces helped Afghan resistance units to overthrow the Taliban-run government and targeted al-Qaida. It became America’s longest war", VoA reported.

Bush said Afghan women, who have been terrorized by the Taliban, are “scared” by the prospect of living under Taliban rule again. Former U.S. President said he is also worried about the fate of thousands of Afghans who acted as interpreters for U.S. and NATO troops over the last 20 years.

“I think about all the interpreters and people that helped not only U.S. troops, but NATO troops..., it seems like they're just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people, and it breaks my heart,” George W. Bush said.

According to the latest information, the United States has begun evacuating Afghan interpreters, for fear that the Taliban could endanger their lives. The White House announced that it is launching a rescue operation for all those who are still waiting for a special immigrant visa for America, Voice of America reports.

"For security reasons, we cannot say exactly how many people are involved. But I can confirm that flights from Afghanistan for those who are ready will be organized as early as the end of July. Our goal is to take all those who meet the conditions from Afghanistan till the end of August", White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"In order to fulfill the promise given to our Afghan allies, we must evacuate about 18.000 Afghans who worked for the United States," said Jennifer Quigley of the Human Rights First.

Lisa Curtis from the Center for American Security pointed out that the United States will have to work quickly and evacuate those who applied for visas because the Taliban are quickly conquering territory and have shown that they do not hesitate to attack individuals such as pilots, journalists, human rights activists.

Biden has vowed to grant the interpreters and their families visas to move to the United States and says the processing of their visas has been “dramatically accelerated,” but it is far from complete.