Afghanistan: Black Watch Veteran Says 'Nation-Building' Commitments Have Been Abandoned

A British Army veteran who served with the Black Watch in Afghanistan says the UK and allied forces have failed to commit to a long-term goal of peace in the country.

David Mack, a former soldier with the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, spoke to Forces News as the final stages of a NATO troop withdrawal has been met with a Taliban resurgence.

Questioning whether the Afghanistan deployment was "worth the costs", he recognised the sacrifices of two platoon members he lost in the country.

"I remember them every day," he said. "If one believes in the profession of arms, then one recognises that we make sacrifices.

"That is part of the agreement that we make, and for me it can be as simple as that.

"But that doesn't mean I let the politicians off the hook."

Coalition forces deployed to Afghanistan to defeat al-Qaeda in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks then stayed "to build a nation," he said – adding that this had to be a long-term commitment.

He believes a successful peace strategy could have taken between 30 and 50 years.

However, failure in long-term nation-building has led to a "pattern of abandoning our commitments", said Mr Mack.

He cited Canada's troubled relocation process – put in place for Afghan nationals it had previously employed, while the UK struggles to evacuate all of its own former staff from the country.

The veteran questioned why other nations would fight alongside allied forces if promises are not kept.

"I have no doubt that the Taliban will be emboldened by the accelerated withdrawal. But it also means that, in the future, we will also have less and less capacity to work alongside others to build new nations – if we go down the nation-building strategy ever again."

Boris Johnson said on Friday the current situation was the "inevitable logical consequence" of the decision by the Biden administration to withdraw all remaining US forces by the 20th anniversary next month of the original 9/11 terror attacks in New York and Washington.

The Prime Minister insisted the sacrifices of the British forces who fought in the country had not been in vain, but said there was no question now of a "military solution" to halt the Taliban onslaught.