WASHINGTON: United States and Afghan Taliban historic peace deal faces asetback as the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reportedly declining tosign the deal.
The U.S. is closing in on a deal with the Taliban that is designed to winddown America’s 18-year war in Afghanistan, but the best indication of howrisky the pact may be is this: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is decliningto sign it, according to senior U.S., Afghan and European officials.
The “agreement in principle” that U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has hammeredout in nine rounds of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar wouldtake the first tentative steps toward peace since U.S. and allied forcesdeployed to Afghanistan following the attacks on 9/11, according to seniorAfghan and Trump Administration officials familiar with its general terms.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper was scheduled to discuss the closely helddetails of the deal with President Donald Trump in a Sept. 3 meeting,according to senior administration officials.
If Trump approves and a deal is struck, it could begin a withdrawal of some5,400 U.S. troops, roughly a third of the present force, from five baseswithin 135 days.
But the deal doesn’t ensure several crucial things, those familiar with thediscussions tell TIME. It doesn’t guarantee the continued presence of U.S.counterterrorism forces to battle al Qaeda, the survival of the pro-U.S.government in Kabul, or even an end to the fighting in Afghanistan. “No onespeaks with certainty. None,” said an Afghan official taking part inbriefings on the deal with Khalilzad. “It is all based on hope. There is notrust.
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There is no history of trust. There is no evidence of honesty and sincerityfrom the Taliban,” and intercepted communications “show that they thinkthey have fooled the U.S. while the U.S. believes that should the Talibancheat, they will pay a hefty price.”
That may explain why Pompeo declined to put his name on the deal. TheTaliban asked for Pompeo to sign an agreement with the Islamic Emirate ofAfghanistan, the official name of the government founded by the Taliban inAfghanistan in 1996, four U.S., Afghan and European officials familiar withthe discussions tell TIME.
Having the Secretary of State sign such a document would amount to de factorecognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political entity, and hedeclined to do so, the Afghan officials say.
