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In an op-ed for the Express, Mr Blair called the decision to leave Afghanistan to the Taliban “tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours”.
He wrote: “20 years ago, following the slaughter of 3500 people in New York on September 11th, the world was in turmoil…
“We forget this now, but the world was spinning on its axis. We feared further attacks, possibly worse.
“The Taliban were given an ultimatum: yield up the Al Qaeda leadership or be removed from power so that Afghanistan could not be used for further attacks. They refused.
“We felt there was no safer alternative for our security than keeping our word. We held out the prospect backed by substantial commitment of turning Afghanistan from a failed terror state into a functioning democracy on the mend.
“It may have been a misplaced ambition, but it was not an ignoble one.”
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