Former Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller and former Defense Minister Søren Gade have either said no or had no time to participate in an impartial investigation of Denmark’s efforts in Afghanistan.
That’s what Politiken writes.
The Danish Institute for International Studies (Diis) is responsible for carrying out the investigation. It was commissioned by all parties in the Danish Parliament with the exception of New Citizens in 2021.
One of the aims of the investigation is to learn from the effort in Afghanistan and to seek answers to the fundamental question of how the Taliban could regain power in Afghanistan.
The two-decade-long effort in Afghanistan ended chaotically, as the Taliban gained more and more ground as they retreated.
In August 2021, the Taliban succeeded in recapturing power in the country after 20 years of war and extensive civil and military efforts in the country.
Interviews with the former ministers, who were three of the most prominent behind the decision to let Denmark wage war in Afghanistan, should have substantiated the written material in the investigation, Politiken writes.
The research team behind the investigation has been trying to get an interview with Anders Fogh Rasmussen for 13 months. According to Politiken, this has not been successful.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s consulting firm, Rasmussen Global, writes in an email to Politiken that the former prime minister intends to give an interview “if Diis and we can find a time”.
According to the media’s information, both Per Stig Møller and Søren Gade have clearly refused to participate in the investigation.
They refer to the fact that they have commented on Denmark’s efforts in Afghanistan several times, and that they believe that this material will be able to be used in the impartial investigation.
The three former ministers’ so far unwillingness to appear for an interview with the research team behind the report, among other things, is causing criticism from Jesper Korsgaard Hansen, who is chairman of the soldiers’ largest union, the Central Association for Stamp Personnel (CS).
– When you send people to war, there are consequences. Therefore, it is important that you also want to participate in the evaluation afterwards. If these three key decision-makers do not want to participate in the investigation, then it is escaping from reality, he says to Politiken.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
