The top U.S. commander in the Middle East expressed skepticism Wednesday that Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders will honor a landmark peace agreement with the U.S. brokered earlier this year, and that American troops should remain in the country until they do.
The radical Islamist insurgency, in a Feb. 29 agreement with the Trump administration, vowed to help prevent other terror groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State operate inside the country. The U.S. has begun to draw down the 13,000 combat troops in Afghanistan and hopes to withdraw the remainder as direct talks between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed government in Kabul proceed.
A U.S. withdrawal, after nearly two decades of fighting would fulfill a key promise of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, but many at the Pentagon are leery that a full pullout would undermine the Afghan government.
“What we need to do is watch the Taliban, see what they do,” Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, said during a virtual event hosted by the Middle East Institute. “It is unclear to me yet that they are fully embracing this and are ready to move forward.”
Direct negotiations between the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, supposed to have begun in March, have yet to kick off. Afghanistan has also seen a continuation of Taliban and terrorist violence, infighting among Afghan government officials, and a failure by both Kabul and the Taliban to complete a confidence-building major prisoner swap.
Just days earlier, the top U.S. negotiator for Afghanistan expressed optimism that peace may finally be taking hold, after waves of attacks had imperiled past efforts to end the insurgency.
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconstruction Zalmay Khalilzad insisted there “has been a lot of progress” toward peace in recent weeks, despite a new United Nations report that claims the Taliban remains close with al Qaeda — a link the militants promised to sever in their deal with Washington.
Gen. McKenzie said U.S. force strength is on track to be down to about 8,600 in Afghansitan by next month, as called for in the Taliban accord.
“We’re going to be ahead of the timeline that we signed up for,” the general said.
He said that the U.S. would withdraw all American troops from the country, if conditions allow, by May of next year. But he candidly admitted doubts about the months ahead.
“Frankly, if you were to ask me my opinion, those conditions have not been fully met,” Gen. McKenzie said.
The primary threat to the U.S., he said, was other jihadist groups that have taken advantage of Afghanistan’s weak government controls to establish bases in the country.
“It’s never been the Taliban, it’s the entities they allow to live in Afghanistan,” he said, citing in particular al Qaeda, which used the safe have provided by the Taliban to plan and carry out the September 11 attacks in 2001.
The recent U.N. report showed that “senior leadership of al Qaeda remains present in Afghanistan,” and that Taliban-al Qaeda ties “remain close, based on friendship, a history of shared struggle, ideological sympathy and intermarriage.” It is estimated that between 400 and 600 al Qaeda fighters remain in the country.
Complicating the road ahead, Gen. McKenzie said Wednesday, was the fact that the Taliban leadership has been “significantly penetrated” by the coronavirus pandemic.
“That’s an unfortunate thing because I think anything that tends to destabilize decision-making at a critical period of time is inherently not good,” he continued. “…I think they still try to carry out operations and I think at the tactical level, they’re still very active as a result of that.”
The general, whose command includes much of the volatile Middle East as well, noted that while the Taliban has honored its commitment to not attack U.S. or coalition forces, it has carried out attacks on Afghan government forces despite the February 29 accord.
“I think the Taliban needs to demonstrate that they’re going to be faithful partners,” the four-star general said.
“We don’t have to like the Taliban, we don’t have to believe the Taliban,” he said. “We’ll know more in the days ahead.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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