Tag: Taliban

Biden says U.S. has accomplished its primary objectives in Afghanistan as he defends troop withdrawal amid Taliban gains

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President Biden said Thursday that the country had accomplished its objectives in Afghanistan of killing Osama bin Laden and undercutting al-Qaeda’s ability to launch more attacks on the United States as he defended his decision to bring a 20-year war to an end.

Biden, during a White House speech, was defiant in the face of gains by the Taliban since he announced a planned U.S. troop withdrawal in April and said the Afghan people needed to dictate their own future.

“We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build,” Biden said. Continue reading.

Russian bounties to Taliban-linked militants resulted in deaths of U.S. troops, according to intelligence assessments

Washington Post logoRussian bounties offered to Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan are believed to have resulted in the deaths of several U.S. service members, according to intelligence gleaned from U.S. military interrogations of captured militants in recent months.

Several people familiar with the matter said it was unclear exactly how many Americans or coalition troops from other countries may have been killed or targeted under the program. U.S. forces in Afghanistan suffered a total of 10 deaths from hostile gunfire or improvised bombs in 2018, and 16 in 2019. Two have been killed this year. In each of those years, several service members were also killed by what are known as “green on blue” hostile incidents by members of Afghan security forces, which are sometimes believed to have been infiltrated by the Taliban.

The intelligence was passed up from the U.S. Special Operations forces based in Afghanistan and led to a restricted high-level White House meeting in late March, the people said.

‘He would have been briefed instantaneously’: WH veteran slams Trump’s comical BountyGate denials‘He would have been briefed instantaneously’: WH veteran slams Trump’s comical BountyGate denials

AlterNet logoDavid Gergen, who you probably know as an analyst for CNN, also served as an adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. So he knows how a (functional, anyway) administration operates.

And he’s calling extreeeeeeme bullshit on the Trump administration’s new claim that Donald Trump and Mike Pence were never briefed about the bounties Russia reportedly placed on our soldiers in Afghanistan:

CNN’s ANA CABRERA: “The White House is now denying the president was briefed on this, but if the New York Times‘ reporting is accurate, this would mean the president was briefed on this in late March. In early May he announced the U.S. had a great friendship with Russia. And later that same month, he reiterated his desire to invite Russia into the G-7. David, you have worked in four White Houses. Why wouldn’t a president have been briefed on intelligence like this?”

Continue reading.

‘Owned by Putin’: Trump accused of ‘literal treason’ after bombshell NYT report on Russian assassination unit

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump was harshly criticized on Friday after a bombshell New York Times report on Russia offering bounties for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there,” the newspaper reported,” the newspaper reported.

“The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options — starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said,” the newspaper explained. “Any involvement with the Taliban that resulted in the deaths of American troops would also be a huge escalation of Russia’s so-called hybrid war against the United States, a strategy of destabilizing adversaries through a combination of such tactics as cyberattacks, the spread of fake news and covert and deniable military operations.” Continue reading.

Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says

New York Times logoThe Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.

WASHINGTON — American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.

The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year.

Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said. Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019, but it was not clear which killings were under suspicion. Continue reading.

Trump speaks with senior Taliban leader by phone, in a first between a U.S. president and insurgent force since Afghan war began

Washington Post logoPresident Trump said Tuesday that he had spoken with the senior Taliban leader, a phone conversation that is apparently the first direct verbal communication between a U.S. president and the Afghan insurgent force since the more than 18-year-old war in Afghanistan began.

Trump confirmed the Taliban’s announcement Tuesday that he had spoken by phone with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s top political leader.

“I spoke to the leader of the Taliban today. We had a good conversation. We’ve agreed there’s no violence, we don’t want violence; we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “They’re dealing with Afghanistan, but we’ll see what happens. We had actually a very good talk.” Continue reading.

Trump’s Taliban deal and the weight of history

Washington Post logoA few weeks ago, Afghanistan marked the 31st anniversary of the last Soviet soldier leaving the country. Over the weekend, the Trump administration heralded the beginning of the end of the United States’ near two-decade-long military presence in the country. The development came after the United States agreed to a truce with the Taliban, a timetable for future talks between Afghanistan’s warring parties and a tentative plan for pulling out U.S. troops. Afghans and Americans can only hope that the aftermath of these negotiations won’t lead to the same instability and state collapse that ultimately followed the Soviet withdrawal decades ago.

The legacy of the Soviet intervention has always hovered over America’s own “forever” war in Afghanistan, even as top U.S. officials waved away the analogy. Key Taliban officials involved in the talks, including deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, fought on the side of the U.S.-backed mujahideen in the 1980s against the Soviet occupation. Now, they are preparing once more for a foreign power’s departure.

Over the course of the next five months, the United States may draw down its troop levels in Afghanistan to roughly where they were by the end of the Obama administration. A complete withdrawal could follow within 14 months, U.S. officials indicated. All of this remains contingent on security guarantees from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not be used by terrorists with aims to attack the United States or its allies, as my colleagues reported.

Afghan government objects to elements of U.S.-Taliban peace deal

Washington Post logoKABUL — The Afghan government objected Sunday to parts of the historic peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, showing the difficulties that lie ahead for the country as the 18-year conflict enters a new phase.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, speaking at a news conference less than 24 hours after the agreement was signed, questioned several elements of the deal, including the timeline for a controversial prisoner exchange and the conditions surrounding the start of talks between the Taliban and his government.

The U.S.-Taliban deal, the result of talks from which the Afghan government was excluded, charts a path for the full withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the country it invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It stipulates that talks between the Taliban and Ghani’s government must begin by March 10 — at which point the sides must have completed a prisoner exchange. Continue reading.

US, Taliban sign deal to withdraw troops from Afghanistan

The Hill logoThe United States and the Taliban signed a historic deal Saturday aimed at winding down America’s longest war.

With Secretary of State Mike Pompeo watching, U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban’s political chief, Abdul Ghani Baradar, signed a deal in Doha, Qatar, to begin the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

In exchange, the Taliban is assuring it will not allow Afghanistan to be used by terrorists to attack the United States. Continue reading.

Five things to know about emerging US, Taliban peace deal

The Hill logoThe United States and the Taliban are on the verge of signing what would be a historic agreement aimed at winding down America’s longest war, potentially fulfilling one of President Trump‘s key promises.

But first comes a weeklong test. A seven-day “reduction in violence” period started Friday afternoon Washington time, midnight Saturday Afghanistan time.

The initial agreement to reduce violence is aimed at building confidence ahead of signing a broader peace agreement. Continue reading.