The Trump administration’s agreement with the Taliban to wind down hostilities in Afghanistan after 18 years of warfare is being sharply criticized by hawks, including Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton.
‘Signing this agreement with Taliban is an unacceptable risk to America’s civilian population,’ Bolton tweeted on Saturday.
‘This is an Obama-style deal.
‘Legitimizing Taliban sends the wrong signal to ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists, and to America’s enemies generally.’
Bolton was fired as national security adviser by the president this past September after the two butted heads over key foreign policy issues like Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan.
John Bolton (left), President Trump’s former national security adviser, slammed his former boss (right) for signing an ‘Obama-style deal’ with the Taliban
‘Legitimizing Taliban sends the wrong signal to ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists, and to America’s enemies generally,’ Bolton tweeted on Saturday
Bolton on Saturday also tweeted his support for a letter written by House Rep. Liz Cheney and 22 other Republican members of Congress questioning the deal
A former member of the George W. Bush administration, Bolton has been an enthusiastic supporter of US military interventions like the invasion of Iraq.
Trump, on the other hand, has expressed wariness about getting America involved in foreign conflicts.
The deal which Bolton criticized was signed on Saturday in the Qatari capital Doha by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on hand to witness the ceremony.
Under the agreement, the US will begin withdrawing thousands of troops in exchange for Taliban commitments to prevent Afghanistan from being a launchpad for terrorist attacks.
If the Taliban meet their commitments, all US troops would leave in 14 months.
The deal potentially helps President Trump fulfill a key campaign promise to extract America from its ‘endless wars.’
Bolton on Saturday also tweeted his support for a letter written by House Rep. Liz Cheney and 22 other Republican members of Congress questioning the deal.
The letter, which was addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, detailed ‘serious concerns’ about the agreement with the Taliban.
The lawmakers wrote that they were ‘seeking assurances that you will not place the security of the American people into the hands of the Taliban, and undermine our ally, the current government of Afghanistan.’
Cheney (seen above in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Thursday), the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is the No. 3 House Republican. An ardent hawk, Cheney organized the letter sent to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
The lawmakers wrote that they were ‘seeking assurances that you will not place the security of the American people into the hands of the Taliban, and undermine our ally, the current government of Afghanistan.’
‘President Trump has taken crucial action to keep our nation safe, including eliminating the world’s most dangerous terrorists and destroying the ISIS caliphate.
‘He knows a bad deal when he sees one,’ the Republicans wrote in the letter, which says at the bottom that a copy was also sent to Trump.
‘We urge you not to commit America to a dangerous deal with the Taliban that would abandon the President’s track record of strengthening America and putting our security and interests first,’ the lawmakers added.
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is the No. 3 House Republican. An ardent hawk, Cheney organized the letter sent to Esper and Pompeo.
Speaking from Qatar, Pompeo said the US is ‘realistic’ about the peace deal it signed with the Taliban, but is ‘seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.’
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Pompeo said he was still angry about the September 11, 2001, attacks that were planned by al-Qaeda under Taliban protection in Afghanistan.
Pompeo said the US will not ‘squander’ what its soldiers ‘have won through blood, sweat and tears.’
He said the US will do whatever is necessary for its security if the Taliban do not comply with the agreement.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper meanwhile traveled to Kabul on a visit that officials and experts said was aimed at reassuring the Afghan government about the United States’ commitment to the country.
For Trump, the deal represents a chance to make good on his promise to bring US troops home.
But security experts have also called it a foreign policy gamble that would give the Taliban international legitimacy.
‘Today is a monumental day for Afghanistan,’ the US Embassy in Kabul said on Twitter.
‘It is about making peace and crafting a common brighter future. We stand with Afghanistan.’
Hours before the deal, the Taliban ordered all its fighters in Afghanistan ‘to refrain from any kind of attack … for the happiness of the nation.’
‘The biggest thing is that we hope the US remain committed to their promises during the negotiation and peace deal,’ said Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the hardline Islamist group.
Though the US are planning to withdraw, there are still more than 16,500 soldiers serving under the NATO banner.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign the US-Taliban peace agreement during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha today
US envoy Khalilzad (left) and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shake hands after signing the peace agreement
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban delegation, both gave remarks
Officials mingle after the agreement signing between Taliban and U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar on Saturday
Germany has the next largest contingent after the US, with 1,300 troops, followed by Britain with 1,100.
Sources told the MailOnline there will be no immediate change to British military presence in the country.
In all, 38 NATO countries are contributing forces to Afghanistan. The alliance officially concluded its combat mission in 2014 and now provides training and support to Afghan forces.
Mujahid said it was ‘irritating and provocative’ that foreign military aircraft continued to fly over Taliban territory, but militia fighters were following the order to stand-down.
For millions of Afghans, the deal represents some hope for an end to years of bloodshed.
‘Peace is extremely simple and my country deserves it. Today is the day when maybe we will see a positive change,’ said Javed Hassan, 38, a school teacher living on the outskirts of Afghan capital, Kabul.
Hassan’s children were killed in a bomb blast carried out by the Taliban in 2018. Since then, he has been writing letters to world leaders urging them to end the Afghan war.
Afghans in Kabul watch a live TV broadcast at a restaurant during the signing ceremony between the U.S. and the Taliban
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (second from left), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani (center), Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (center right) and Taliban co-founder and deputy chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (right) are seen during signing ceremony of peace agreement between US and Taliban
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani attend the signing of a US-Taliban agreement in the Qatari capital Doha today
Members of the Taliban delegation gather ahead of an agreement signing between them and U.S. officials in Doha today
Members of the Taliban delegation pray ahead of an agreement signing between them and US officials in Doha today
Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as ambassador to Pakistan during the Taliban’s rule, speaks to the media in Doha, Qatar today
President George W. Bush ordered the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Some US troops currently serving there had not yet been born when the World Trade Center collapsed on that crisp, sunny morning that changed how Americans see the world.
It only took a few months to topple the Taliban and send Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida militants scrambling across the border into Pakistan, but the war dragged on for years as the United States tried establish a stable, functioning state in one of the least developed countries in the world.
The Taliban regrouped, and currently hold sway over half the country.
The US spent more than $750billion, and on all sides the war cost tens of thousands of lives lost, permanently scarred and indelibly interrupted.
But the conflict was also frequently ignored by US politicians and the American public.
Ahead of the peace deal this week, Pompeo privately told a conference of US ambassadors at the State Department that he was going only because Trump had insisted on his participation, according to two people present.
Dozens of Taliban members meanwhile held a small victory march in Qatar in which they waved the militant group’s white flags, according to a video shared on Taliban websites.
‘Today is the day of victory, which has come with the help of Allah,’ said Abbas Stanikzai, one of the Taliban’s lead negotiators, who joined the march.
Trump has repeatedly promised to get the US out of its ‘endless wars’ in the Middle East, and the withdrawal of troops could provide a boost as he seeks re-election in a nation weary of involvement in distant conflicts.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives to the signing of a US-Taliban agreement in the Qatari capital Doha today. Washington and the Taliban are set to sign a landmark deal in Doha that would see them agree to the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from Afghanistan in return for insurgent guarantees
Trump has repeatedly promised to get the U.S. out of its ‘endless wars’ in the Middle East, and the withdrawal of troops could provide a boost as he seeks re-election in a nation weary of involvement in distant conflicts
Fighting group: This was the Taliban shortly before the 9/11 attacks. The group seized power and became the Afghan government by 1996, before the US led invasion which toppled them in the wake of the atrocities which hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93
Is this the future? General Austin Miller, the most senior US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, walked the streets of Kabul without body armor this week and posed for selfies as the ‘reduction in violence’ took hold
US troops are to be withdrawn to 8,600 from about 13,000 in the weeks following Saturday’s signing.
Further drawdowns are to depend on the Taliban meeting certain counter-terrorism conditions, compliance that will be assessed by the United States.
Trump has approached the Taliban agreement cautiously, steering clear of the crowing surrounding other major foreign policy actions, such as his talks with North Korea.
Last September, on short notice, he called off what was to be a signing ceremony with the Taliban at Camp David after a series of new Taliban attacks.
But he has since been supportive of the talks led by his special envoy, Khalilzad.
Under the agreement, the Taliban promise not to let extremists use the country as a staging ground for attacking the US or its allies.
But US officials are loath to trust the Taliban to fulfill their obligations.
The prospects for Afghanistan’s future are uncertain.
The agreement sets the stage for peace talks involving Afghan factions, which are likely to be complicated.
Under the agreement, 5,000 Taliban are to be released from Afghan-run jails, but it’s not known if the Afghan government will do that.
There are also questions about whether Taliban fighters loyal to various warlords will be willing to disarm.
It’s not clear what will become of gains made in women’s rights since the toppling of the Taliban, which had repressed women and girls under a strict brand of Sharia law.
Women’s rights in Afghanistan had been a top concern of both the Bush and Obama administration, but it remains a deeply conservative country, with women still struggling for basic rights.
Fighters with Afghanistan’s Taliban militia stand with their weapons in Ahmad Aba district on the outskirts of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, on July 18, 2017
In this file photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, a U.S. Special Forces soldier who died in Afghanistan in December 2019
In this file photo taken on September 12, 2006 US soldiers salute during a ceremony at Bagram air base north of Kabul
The US has a separate contingent of 5,000 troops deployed to carry out counter-terrorism missions and provide air and ground support to Afghan forces when requested.
Since the start of negotiations with the Taliban, the US has stepped up its air assaults on the Taliban as well as a local Islamic State affiliate.
Last year the US air force dropped more bombs on Afghanistan than in any year since 2013.
Seven days ago, the Taliban began a seven-day ‘reduction of violence’ period, a prerequisite to the peace deal signing.
‘We have seen a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan over the last days, and therefore we are also very close to the signing of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban,’ NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday in Brussels.
He will be in Kabul later Saturday for a separate signing ceremony with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Esper.
That signing is intended to show continuing NATO and US support for Afghanistan.
‘The road to peace will be long and hard and there will be setbacks, and there is a risk always for spoilers,’ Stoltenberg said.
‘But the thing is, we are committed, the Afghan people are committed to peace, and we will continue to provide support.’
Timeline of US involvement in Afghanistan
The US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, following the 9/11 terror attacks, targeted Al-Qaeda in the sanctuaries provided by the then Taliban government.
More than 18 years later, as Washington signed a deal with the Taliban on Saturday in Doha to end America’s longest war, here is a timeline of developments:
‘War on terror’
On October 7, 2001 — less than a month after the September 11 attacks that killed around 3,000 people in the US — President George W. Bush launches operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ in Afghanistan.
The country’s Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime had been sheltering Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda movement, which carried out the attacks.
The operation opens a military front in the US ‘war on terrorism’.
A F-18 warplane takes-off from the flight deck of the American aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise in the northern Indian Ocean on October 8, 2001 in the opening days of Operation Enduring Freedom
Within weeks, US-led forces overthrow the Taliban, in power since 1996.
Besides carrying out air strikes, Washington also lends support to the Afghan Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban, contributing paramilitary teams from the CIA and special forces.
About 1,000 American soldiers are on the ground by November 2001, rising to 10,000 the next year.
Forgotten war
US attention is diverted from Afghanistan when US forces invade Iraq in 2003 to oust dictator Saddam Hussein, accused of harbouring weapons of mass destruction.
The Taliban and other Islamist outfits regroup in their strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan, from where they can easily travel between their bases in Pakistan’s tribal zones, and launch an insurgency.
In 2008, the US command in Afghanistan calls for more manpower. Bush sends additional soldiers and about 48,500 US troops are deployed.
Peak of 100,000 troops
In 2009, Barack Obama — elected president on campaign promises to end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — boosts the US deployment to around 68,000. In December, he sends another 30,000.
The objective is to stymie the growing Taliban insurgency and to strengthen Afghan institutions.
By 2010, more than 150,000 foreign soldiers are deployed in Afghanistan, of which 100,000 are American.
Bin Laden killed
Bin Laden is killed on May 2, 2011 in a US special forces operation in Pakistan.
Combat operations end
On December 31, 2014, the NATO alliance ends its combat mission in Afghanistan.
But, under agreements reached a few months earlier, 12,500 foreign soldiers — of which 9,800 are American — remain to train Afghan troops and conduct anti-terrorist operations.
Security in Afghanistan degenerates as the Taliban’s insurgency spreads, with the Islamic State (IS) group also becoming active in early 2015.
In July 2016, Obama slows the planned pace of withdrawal of US troops, saying 8,400 will remain into 2017.
Mega bomb against IS
In April 2017, the US military drops the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat on an IS network of tunnels and caves in eastern Afghanistan. Afghan officials say it killed 96 jihadists.
US reinforcements
In August 2017, new US President Donald Trump scraps any timetables for a US pullout and re-commits thousands more soldiers.
In mid-November, some 3,000 soldiers arrive to reinforce the 11,000 troops already deployed.
However, deadly attacks multiply, especially against Afghan forces. The US steps up air strikes dramatically.
Talks
In mid-2018, Washington and Taliban representatives discreetly open talks in Doha, led by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, focused on slashing the US military footprint in Afghanistan.
In return, the US demands that the Taliban prevent the country from being used as a safe haven for jihadist groups including Al-Qaeda.
But amid continued Taliban violence, Trump in September calls off talks, angered over the death of a US soldier in a Kabul bombing.
On December 7, negotiations are re-started in Doha, only to be paused again following a Taliban attack near Bagram air base outside Kabul.
During a surprise visit to Bagram on November 28, Trump said he is ready to reduce troops below 8,600.
Historic deal
On February 13 2020, the United States announces it has secured a seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan that it hopes will pave the way for an agreement with the Taliban.
On Saturday, the United States signs a landmark deal with the Taliban in the Qatari capital, laying out a timetable for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months.
The agreement is expected to lead to dialogue between the Taliban and the US-backed Kabul government that, if successful, could ultimately see an end to the 18-year conflict.