Dmitry Medvedev wrote in an op-ed that the U.S. invasion was a “blood for blood” campaign following the Twin Towers attacks.
The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks should focus minds on the failure of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan to defeat terrorism, a goal which requires “the entire international community,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has said. He described the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan as following a “blood for blood” principle backed by the United Nations during which over 20 years $1.5 trillion was “buried” in the country in an outlay that was “absolutely pointless.” In an op-ed for Gazyeta.ru, the Russian president from 2008 to 2012, said the U.S. “did not achieve the main goal that President George W. Bush announced after the September 11 attacks—to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan. “Due to numerous miscalculations of the United States, including in its Middle East policy, terrorists continue to operate on the territory of the country,” he said, noting the particular threat of Islamic State militants in the region and further afield. Medvedev, also an ex-prime minister who now serves as the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said that Washington had taken pains to portray the U.
