Pope inadvertently quotes Putin to chide West’s Afghan war

By ARITZ PARRA
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Pope Francis criticized the West’s recent involvement in Afghanistan as an outsider’s attempt to impose democracy — although he did it by citing Russia’s Vladimir Putin while thinking he was quoting Germany’s Angela Merkel. Asked during a radio interview about the new political map taking shape in Afghanistan after the United States and its allies withdrew from the Taliban-controlled country after 20 years of war, the pope said he would answer using a quote that he attributed to the German chancellor. But the words were spoken last month by the Russian president in the presence of Merkel, during her visit to Moscow. Francis called for Christians across the world to engage in “prayer, penance and fasting” for Afghanistan.