According to CNN on the 28th, the Pentagon said on Thursday that the Biden administration would not adhere to its promise to withdraw troops completely from Afghanistan by May, and accused the Taliban of not fulfilling the promise made in the agreement with the United States.
The agreement was negotiated under the Trump administration and signed by both sides in February 2020.
The agreement requires the Taliban to reduce violence, cut off contact with terrorist organizations, etc. U.S. troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban abide by the terms of the agreement.
Just days before former President Trump left office, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan fell to 2,500.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference, “The Taliban have not kept their promises.
If they do not fulfill their promise to cut off ties with terrorist organizations and stop violent attacks on the Afghan National Security Forces and the Afghan people, it will be difficult to find concrete ways to solve the problem through negotiations.”
Kirby told reporters that the United States remains committed to resolving the problems between the Taliban and the Afghan government through negotiations.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Brencoln told Afghan President Ghani that “the peace process has strong diplomatic support, focusing on helping all parties to the conflict achieve a lasting and just political solution, as well as a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire that benefits all Afghans.”
According to the report, internal negotiations in Afghanistan began last September, but progress was slow.
Last December, the Taliban and the Afghan government agreed on the rules and procedures for negotiations, and resumed negotiations in early January this year.
Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Special Representative for Reconciliation in Afghanistan and the main negotiator for the U.S. agreement with the Taliban, said that the goal of the intra-Afghanistan negotiations is “a political road map and a comprehensive ceasefire”.
According to the report, Pentagon spokesman Kirby’s evaluation of the Taliban’s non-compliance with the agreement far exceeds that of Secretary of State Blincoln, who only told the Afghan president that the United States is evaluating the agreement with the Taliban and whether the Taliban has fulfilled its severance from terrorist organizations, according to the statement of the State Department.
Relationships, commitment to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other stakeholders.”
Blinck told reporters Wednesday that he was trying to understand “what exactly is in the agreement reached between the United States and the Taliban to ensure that we are fully aware of the commitments made by the Taliban and any commitments we make.”
At last week’s confirmation hearing of the position of secretary of state, Blincoln called Afghanistan a “real challenge”. He said, “We want to end this so-called ‘permanent war’. We are going to take our troops home.
We hope to retain some capacity to deal with the resurgence of terrorism, which is the primary reason why we bring us to Afghanistan.
In addition, in a commentary published in the Washington Post this week, Roya Rahmani, the ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States, warned that “peace talks do not necessarily mean peace, nor does it necessarily mean an agreement.
We can’t let fatigue lure us to an agreement that hurts more than cures. The consequences of a false peace are as terrible as not reaching an agreement at all.
This may lead to the loss of progress made in Afghanistan in human rights and women’s empowerment, the collapse of democracy, and Afghanistan may once again become a safe haven for terrorist organizations in the region.
In addition, the implosion in Afghanistan will destabilize the region and have devastating consequences for global security.”
She noted that “the United States must make bold decisions to hold the Taliban accountable for its serious violations of the agreement and fully commit to the partnership between the United States and Afghanistan.”
