The Taliban today praised Donald Trump’s tweet promising to remove all US troops out of Afghanistan by Christmas.
On Wednesday Trump announced the US will remove the last ‘of our BRAVE men and women serving in Afghanistan’ by the holiday season, marking America’s exit from Afghanistan after 19 years.
Trump’s plan came as a surprise to administration officials and which puts complicated peace negotiations in jeopardy.
Hours earlier, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said the military would reduce its forces in Afghanistan from 5,000 to 2,500 by early next year.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said Trump’s statement was welcome and a ‘positive step’ towards a peace agreement between the US and the Taliban.
‘The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) is also committed to the contents of the agreement and hopes for good and positive relations with all countries, including the US, in the future,’ a Taliban statement said today.
The Taliban is fighting to resurrect its totalitarian Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and has already established a shadow government throughout parts of the country.
The jihadists’ rulers-in-waiting do not intend to share power with the elected Afghan government—they quite openly plan to usurp it.
And they are closer to achieving that goal today than at any time since the U.S.-led invasion in October 2001.
At the moment there are under 5,000 troops in Afghanistan from an estimated 13,000 when the agreement with the Taliban was signed on February 29.
On Wednesday O’Brien said an event at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas: ‘Ultimately, the Afghans themselves are going to have to work out an accord, a peace agreement… It’s going to be slow progress, it’s going to be hard progress, but we think it’s a necessary step – we think Americans need to come home.’
‘As of today, there are under 5,000 and that will go to 2,500 by early next year,’ he added.
But Trump went further and said all troops would be home by December 25.
If Trump follows through, the militant group would almost certainly claim it as a victory, after decades of couching their fight as a war against foreign aggression.
“It’s no surprise that the Taliban have welcomed Trump’s announcement that he’d have the troops home by Christmas. They spent 19 years fighting for this,” said Ashley Jackson, the director of the ODI’s Centre for the Study of Armed Groups.
“This is the last leverage the US had left in talks with the Taliban, and Trump is proposing to give it away for free.”
Without the prospect of US military pressure, the Taliban would have little incentive to stay at the negotiating table with representatives of the Kabul government.
At the moment the Taliban and an Afghan government-appointed negotiating team are holding peace talks in Doha, Qatar, which started several weeks ago.
Talks have been slow and little details of the back and forth have been released.
Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad returned to the region last week.
Afghan government forces continue to struggle to maintain security in areas under their control. Afghan officials have warned that swift US withdrawal could further destabilize the country.
Trump, who is seeking re-election next month, has made walking away from ‘ridiculous endless wars’ the cornerstone of his foreign policy, even though thousands of troops remain in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
The White House’s plan for the drawdown will almost certainly be subject to review should Trump lose his bid for a second term in the November 3 election.
Trump’s comments could further weaken the Afghan government’s leverage during negotiations with the Taliban.
While the talks have been taking place in Doha, scores of Afghan soldiers and Taliban fighters have been killed in clashes. Dozens of civilians have also died in recent weeks.
About 2,400 US service members have been killed in the Afghan conflict and many thousands more wounded.
Wednesday also marked 19 years since the United States invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban rulers who had harbored al Qaeda militants who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.
The Afghan Taliban refused to renounce and condemn al-Qaida, and have lauded both the 9/11 attack and the 2004 Madrid attack.