American withdrawal need not return Afghanistan to the Taliban

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/548378-american-withdrawal-need-not-return-afghanistan-to-the-taliban

The Taliban’s decision to back out of attending a peace summit, scheduled to start later this week in Turkey, seems to have prompted the Biden administration’s announcement of a full withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11. The Taliban will now most likely take even less interest in talks, as their goal all along was to secure a U.S. military withdrawal.

The Biden administration was hoping that, at the conference scheduled to be held in Turkey, it would get the Taliban’s agreement to an extension of the May 1 deadline for withdrawal of U.S. troops. By refusing to show up, the Taliban forced President Biden, who opposes keeping troops in Afghanistan, to announce a final withdrawal date.

The Taliban have always sought to run out the clock on the U.S., reflecting Taliban founder Mullah Omar’s belief that “Americans have all the clocks, but we have all the time.” They have shown little interest in sharing power, ending violence or defining the terms of a lasting peace.

Instead of betting everything on an elusive deal with the Taliban, U.S. interests would have been better served by working more closely with the Kabul government while planning for an American military withdrawal. That option can still be exercised instead of chasing an agreement with the Taliban.

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are not the South Vietnam army, which collapsed soon after American military withdrawal. Over the last three years, Afghan forces have undertaken more than 90 percent of all military operations, depending on NATO forces only for air support, technical intelligence and special operations capability.