Top US general says Afghan collapse can be traced to Trump-Taliban deal

[PSPS]

Source: The Guardian

Top US general says Afghan collapse can be traced to Trump-Taliban deal

The collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces can be traced to a 2020 agreement between the Taliban and the Trump administration that promised a complete US troop withdrawal, senior Pentagon officials have told Congress. Gen Frank McKenzie, the head of central command, told the House armed services committee that once the US troop presence was pushed below 2,500 as part of President Joe Biden’s decision in April to complete a total withdrawal by September, the unraveling of the US-backed Afghan government accelerated.

“The signing of the Doha agreement had a really pernicious effect on the government of Afghanistan and on its military, psychological more than anything else, but we set a date – certain for when we were going to leave and when they could expect all assistance to end,” McKenzie said.

He was referring to a 29 February 2020, agreement that the Trump administration signed with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, in which the US promised to fully withdraw its troops by May 2021 and the Taliban committed to several conditions, including stopping attacks on American and coalition forces. The stated objective was to promote a peace negotiation between the Taliban and the Afghan government, but that diplomatic effort never gained traction before Biden took office in January.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/29/frank-mckenzie-doha-agreement-trump-taliban

[DanieRains]

1. The Magats Are Not Gonna Like That

Now are they.

Court Martial Him!!!

For telling the truth.

[hadEnuf]

6. No one is above the Magats wrath if they speak out against their Fuhrer!

Whether it is right or wrong matters not!

[Champp]

2. Yes indeed - get thee to the Greatest Page

Everything the Republican casino hustler touched turns to shit.

A truism if ever there was a truism.

[nuxvomica]

3. "date - certain" is a mistranscription

Should be "date certain," just a singular noun. Nitpicky, I know, but it does misrepresent how he said it, and his words should be repeated as much as possible in the media, as he clearly lays out who, unsurprisingly, screwed this up months ago..

[Cha]

4. Well Yeah! Good it's verified.

[CountAllVotes]

5. Surprise surprise surprise!

Not!

& recommend!!!

[Pas-de-Calais]

7. Never in military,,,

And i knew that

[Red Mountain]

8. Great job, Mikey

hopefully Pompeo disappears after this.

[maxsolomon]

13. Not a chance in hell.

He'll be with us again and again, any time a Repuke gets the WH - he's 2 months younger than me.

I wouldn't be shocked if TFG picks him as his running mate.

[lonely bird]

9. Afghanistan was going to go to shit whenever we left

The alternative was keeping thousands of soldiers as well as spending billions more on contractors until eternity. The concept of an “Afghanistan” was tenuous at best including the so-called Durand line between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[70sEraVet]

10. I imagine the Doha agreement was totally demoralizing for the Afghan military and government

An agreement that the Afghan government wasn't even part of, if I understand correctly. And then to order the release of prisoners. Little wonder that the Afghan army melted away.

[niyad]

11. You are correct. The Afghaan government was not part of the negotiations.

[niyad]

12. And there is that little matter of 5,000 Taliban fighters ordered released from

prison, and the guy now apparently in charge. Traitor45** makes really great deals.