Gorbachev says US, NATO had no chance of success in Afghanistan | TheHill – The Hill

Former Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachevon Tuesday said he believes thatNATO and the United States had no chance of garnering success from entering Afghanistan.

Gorbachev, who previously oversawthe withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989, said that while he now regards the Soviet presence in Afghanistan as a mistake, Americans and NATO have mishandled their campaign in the country as well.

"They should have admitted failure earlier,"Gorbachev, 90, told RIA. "The important thing now is to draw the lessons from what happened and make sure that similar mistakes are not repeated."

Gorbachev told the the Russian state-owned news outlet, according to Reuters,that the U.S. goals in Afghanistan were unrealistic.

"[The U.S. campaign] was a failed enterprise from the start even though Russia supported it during the first stages," he added. "Like many other similar projects at its heart lay the exaggeration of a threat and poorly defined geopolitical ideas. To that were added unrealistic attempts to democratize a society made up of many tribes."

The United States entered Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks during the administration of President George W. Bush. It initially was a campaign to go after al Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the attacks, but was criticized over the years as a nation-building effort.

In ending the campaign, President BidenJoe BidenUtah 'eager' to assist with resettling Afghan refugees: governor Pelosi presses moderate Democrats amid budget standoff Democrat on Biden's claim some Afghans didn't want to leave earlier: 'Utter BS' MORE, who has come under fierce criticism for his handling of the U.S. exit, said he would not hand the war to a fifth U.S. president.

Afghanistan's Soviet-backed officials governed for three years after Soviet troops left the country. That government fell three years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to aid being cut off from Moscow,Reuters noted.

Biden defended his decision on Monday despite the increased criticism.

I stand squarely behind my decision, Biden said at the time. After 20 years, Ive learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces.

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Gorbachev says US, NATO had no chance of success in Afghanistan | TheHill - The Hill