According to a bipartisan report to Congress on Wednesday local time, the United States should extend the deadline for the full withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan on May 1 and should be based on the effectiveness of the peace talks and the Taliban’s efforts to reduce violence and contain “base” The progress made by the local organization to reduce the number of troops.
The report said that Washington should not abandon the peace process in Afghanistan.
But the conditions for success cannot be met by the May 1 deadline, which is stipulated in the 2020 agreement between the United States and the Taliban.
Therefore, the withdrawal of all U.S. troops may lead to civil war, destabilize the region, and revive the threat of al-Qaeda.
The report of the Afghanistan Research Group said that the United States “should not…cede victory to the Taliban”, reflecting criticism of the Trump administration’s excessive concessions to insurgents to end the longest war in the United States.
The group was commissioned by Congress and its co-chairs included retired Marine Corps ad-General, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, and former Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte.
Dunford told reporters that the report was also sent to President Biden’s aides, including Zalme Khalilzad, who has been a peace negotiator since the Trump administration, and they “deem it helpful.”
The report also said that Ned Price, spokesman of the U.S. State Department, said that the Biden administration “planned to support” the peace process.
And he pointed out that the U.S. government is assessing the Taliban’s commitments to sever ties with Al-Qaida, reduce violence and participate in peace talks.
Former U.S. President Trump earlier ordered the reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 in the face of a surge in violence. U.S. officials say the Taliban have maintained contact with Al-Qaida, and peace negotiations within Afghanistan have come to a standstill.
