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General McKenzie says Doha deal has a “pernicious effect” on Afghan government
Senior U.S. defense officials have said the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan can be traced to a deal between the group and the Trump administration.
The so-called Doha agreement was signed in February 2020 and set a date for the United States to withdraw its troops.
General Frank McKenzie said the deal had a “really pernicious effect” on the Afghan government and army.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin agreed, saying the deal had helped the Taliban grow “stronger.”
In addition to setting a withdrawal date, the Doha agreement included broad obligations for the Taliban to take action to prevent groups such as al-Qaeda from threatening the security of the United States and its allies.
After his election, US President Joe Biden continued with the withdrawal plan but with an end date of August 31 instead of May.
U.S. defense officials made the comments Wednesday during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.
The hearing comes weeks after a chaotic withdrawal from Kabul airport as foreign powers sought to bring their citizens home and thousands of desperate Afghans pleaded for help. A suicide bombing killed 182 people during the operation.
As head of the US Central Command, General McKenzie oversaw the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which marked the end of a 20-year presence in the country and the United States’ longest war.
General McKenzie told the committee that the Doha agreement had had a significant psychological effect on the Afghan government, as it set a date by which “they could expect all aid to end.”
He said he had believed “for quite a while” that if the United States reduced the number of its military advisers in Afghanistan to less than 2,500, the Afghan government and army would inevitably collapse.
After the Doha deal, he said the downsizing ordered by President Biden in April was “the other nail in the coffin.”
Mr Austin said that by urging the United States to end airstrikes against the Taliban, the Doha deal meant that the Islamist group “was strengthening itself, that it was increasing its offensive operations against the Afghan security forces. and that the Afghans were losing a lot of people every week “. .
Defense officials previously held talks with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, where Gen. Milley and Gen. McKenzie said they recommended maintaining a force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, ahead of the full withdrawal of states. -United in August.
General Milley also said the Taliban takeover would make it more difficult to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, as he described the group as a terrorist organization that “has yet to sever its ties with al-Qaeda.” .
Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the activists had “given assurances to the world that there would be no threat to any country, including the United States, Afghan soil ”.
“We are committed to the agreement that was signed in Doha between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States. We also want the Americans and their allies to commit to the deal as well. Instead of making negative comments, it would be better if they chose the path of diplomacy and cooperation, ”he said.
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