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This article is part of a Fox News Digital series examining the consequences of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan a year ago this week.
A year after a Taliban offensive through Afghanistan landed in Kabul and overthrew the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, questions remain about the actions of the failed republic’s last internationally recognized president, Ashraf Ghani.
“There is no power in the world that can persuade me to get on a plane and leave this country. It is a country I love and I will die to defend,” Ghani told Germany in May 2021. infamously told Der Spiegel of
But just a few months later, Ghani broke that promise, gathering his family and flying out of Afghanistan as Taliban forces overran Kabul. The former president faced immediate criticism for what he called cowardly behavior, but reports began circulating that Ghani had fled the Afghan state coffers with millions of dollars.
Days after Gani fled the country, rumors circulated that he had landed in neighboring Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, but it was later revealed that he was heading to the United Arab Emirates and staying at home in an undisclosed location. I was.
Former Afghan president explains why he fled, saying he hopes to return home and ‘help my country recover’
The United Arab Emirates welcomed the former president of Afghanistan and his family on humanitarian grounds, and Ghani was quick to defend his actions.
“Dear compatriots! Today I was faced with a difficult choice: to enter the palace or to leave the dear country that has dedicated its life to defending and defending the past 20 years against the armed Taliban who wish to We should stand up,” Ghani said in a Facebook post hours after leaving the country. “The Taliban are trying to get me out. They are here to attack all of Kabul and the people of Kabul. To avoid a flood of blood, I thought it best to flee.”
Less than a month later, in an apology to the Afghan people, the former president again explained that he had left Afghanistan to avoid heavy fighting in the capital.
“Leaving Kabul was the hardest decision of my life, but I believed it was the only way to silence the guns and save Kabul and its six million citizens.
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A U.S. report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) later found that there was a lack of evidence to support claims that Ghani fled Afghanistan for millions of dollars, but that he had about You said you likely have $500,000.
Special Inspector General John Sopko said, “SIGAR found that some cash was stolen from the palace grounds and loaded onto these helicopters, but the evidence is that this amount did not exceed $1 million. , indicates that it could be closer to $500,000,โ wrote a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate. It was believed to come from the government’s operating budget.”
Months after withdrawing from Afghanistan and speaking out on social media, Ghani has barely made a name for himself. That changed earlier this month, when Ghani granted a rare interview to CNN and once again defended his final days as president.
“I took the plane because I could no longer defend the country,” Ghani said in an interview, after being told by the defense minister that the country could no longer be defended and the ministry had already been evacuated. Mentioned.
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“I was the last one to leave. The reason I left was because I didn’t want to give the Taliban and their supporters the pleasure of humiliating the Afghan president again,” he said.
In an interview, Ghani criticized the “incredibly flawed” deal with the Taliban negotiated under former President Trump and implemented by President Biden, but does not blame the US for the collapse of the government he oversaw. It revealed that.
“We need to focus on what’s in front of us now,” Gani said. “Our country is in dire straits. I cannot afford to blame or blame. [a] Feeling betrayed. “
He also argued with himself and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the situation he faced was very different from the Ukrainian leader who chose to remain in Ukraine when Russian forces closed in on Kiev. rejected the comparison of
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“President Zelensky was informed in detail by the CIA of the impending Russian invasion,” Ghani claimed. “We weren’t offered a piece of paper by our allies.”
However, Gani also expressed hope that one day he could return to Afghanistan, pointing out that his family has been in the same village for 500 to 600 years.
“I hope so. Very much. It’s my home,” Ghani said of a possible return to Afghanistan. “I want to help my county heal…and I hope I can do that from where every cell of my body belongs.
The former president, when faced with criticism for his final actions as Afghan leader, insisted he never gave up and always did what he thought was in the best interests of his people.
“I’ve lived an honorable life,” he said.