AFTER FAILED MISSION TO RESCUE AFGAN PEACE TALKS, POMPEO ISSUES SCATHING REBUKE, PULLS $1 BILLION IN U.S. AID
BY JAMIE MCINTYRE
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
US ‘DISAPPOINTED IN THEM’: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has returned to the United States empty-handed after a whirlwind day in Kabul in which he met with feuding Afghan leaders in an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate peace talks with the Taliban that are on life support.As his plane left Doha, where he met with Taliban representatives, the State Department issued a statement sharply critical of Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, who both claim to be Afghanistan’s duly-elected president, accusing them of “irresponsible actions” and announcing the U.S. would immediately withdraw $1 billion in assistance and consider cutting another $1 billion next year.“They still can’t see their way towards wanting to get on a team, the inclusive team,” Pompeo complained after neither man would bend to U.S. pressure to put aside their differences and form a unity government. Speaking to reporters on his plane en route to Washington, Pompeo said it’s not too late for them to change course. “We’re hopeful, frankly, they’ll get their act together and we won’t have to do it, but we are prepared to do that if they can’t.”SCATHING STATEMENT: Pressed for details on the billion-dollar aid cut, Pompeo was reluctant to go beyond the official statement, which described in unusually blunt terms U.S. disappointment with the conduct of its Afghan partners. “Their failure has harmed U.S.-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonors those Afghan, Americans, and Coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure,” the statement said.“Because this leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests, effective immediately, the U.S. government will initiate a review of the scope of our cooperation with Afghanistan,” it continued. “Among other steps, we are today announcing a responsible adjustment to our spending in Afghanistan and immediately reducing assistance by $1 billion this year.”DEAL WITH TALIBAN UNRAVELING: The agreement the U.S. negotiated with the Taliban began to fall apart almost as soon as it was signed Feb. 29 in Doha, Qatar. It called for a reduction of violence, but only against U.S. and coalition forces, and committed the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners while fighting still raged as a precondition to peace talks.So far, that’s not something Ghani or Abdullah are willing to do. “We’ll continue to cajole, to coach, and to incentivize them to have the negotiations where all the Afghans are sitting at the table,” Pompeo told reporters. “There’s prisoner release, there’s the intra-Afghan negotiations, there’s the violence level. There are many pieces to the ultimate solution here.”NO ONE LEFT ALIVE: Pompeo’s failed rescue mission came just four days after a deadly Taliban attack killed up to two dozen Afghan security forces in southern Afghanistan and left no Afghan forces alive at the police and military outpost.Nevertheless, Pompeo argued the Taliban are meeting the letter of the agreement, and therefore, the U.S. would continue to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops over the next four months. “We’re moving down that path. As long as these violence levels remain beneath the threshold, our commitment is that we’ll continue,” he told reporters.“The reduction of violence is real. It’s not perfect, but it’s in a place that’s pretty good,” Pompeo insisted. “There haven’t been attacks on American forces since the peace agreement was signed, what, three weeks ago now, three-and-a-half weeks ago.”NOT CUTTING AND RUNNING: Pompeo insisted the U.S. is not abandoning the Afghan forces that are battling the Taliban for control of the country. “We’re going to continue to do all we’ve been doing to secure that the Afghan National Security Forces remain capable and that we’ll – consistent with the commitment we made to the Taliban as well as to the Afghan leadership,” Pompeo said.“I’m hopeful in the days ahead, we’ll begin this process, which will begin with the prisoner release and lead to getting an inclusive team together at the negotiating table, which is, in the end, the Afghans sitting together is the outcome we have to get to.”“The United States is not abandoning our partnership with Afghanistan, nor our commitment to support the Afghan security forces, but reviewing the scope of our cooperation given the irresponsible actions of Afghan leaders,” the official statement said. “To illustrate America’s steadfast commitment to the Afghan people, the United States will be providing $15 million in assistance to help combat the spread of the coronavirus in Afghanistan.”
