Former Afghan diplomat says fellow citizens 'are really up to here with Americans'

(Image credit: Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

published 11 August 2021

As the Taliban rapidly gains ground in Afghanistan, taking several provincial capitals in just a few days, the country's citizens are directing ire at the United States, the brother of a "legendary" Afghan rebel leader who fought against both the Soviet Union and the Taliban told The Wall Street Journal.

"Every Afghan, they are really up to here with Americans," said Ahmad Wali Massoud, whose brother Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated in a Taliban-Al Qaeda-linked plot just two days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "You came to Afghanistan to root out terrorism. What happened?"

On his Twitter account, the younger Massoud, who served as Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.K. from 2002 to 2006, has criticized both the U.S. and Afghan governments, calling the former's military withdrawal "irresponsible," but adding that President Ashraf Ghani and other political leaders "were living under the delusion of making Americans as their permanent strategic ally." On Tuesday, he wrote that the swift fall of the provincial capitals is the legacy of the U.S.'s 20-year presence in Afghanistan. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Speed Reads Afghanistan

To continue reading this article...

Create a free account

Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.

Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.

Cancel or pause at any time.

Already a subscriber to The Week?

Unlimited website access is included with Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions.
with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.

Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox