President Trump met with his top Cabinet officials on Friday afternoon to discuss negotiations with the Taliban that would lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and other high-ranking national security officials briefed the president about the peace talks at his Bedminster golf resort in New Jersey while he is on a working vacation, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal also reported that Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born diplomat who is the chief negotiator in the talks, will travel to Doha, Qatar, as early as this weekend to secure an agreement between the two sides to end a nearly 18-year conflict that began when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to defeat al Qaeda and topple the Taliban regime.
But Reuters noted that a U.S. defense official said major differences remain unresolved between the U.S. and the Taliban even after eight rounds of talks in Qatar.
Trump has repeatedly advocated for the withdrawal of troops from overseas conflicts, and a sense of urgency to pull the 14,000 troops out of Afghanistan has developed with the November 2020 elections looming.
Many U.S. lawmakers oppose the end of a military presence in Afghanistan, saying that the Taliban will likely take up arms against the Afghan government and make the country a safe haven for al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other terrorist organizations.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is a close ally of Trump, said any negotiations with the Taliban should leave some U.S. troops in Afghanistan to conduct counterterrorism missions.
“Any peace agreement which denies the U.S. a robust counter-terrorism capability in Afghanistan is not a peace deal,” Graham said in a statement. “Instead, it is paving the way for another attack on the American homeland and attacks against American interests around the world.”
The Taliban has called for the complete withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan, but the U.S. has said it will not comply unless the Taliban promises not to encourage jihadists from al Qaeda and ISIS to travel to the country to conduct further their terrorist activities. Washington has insisted upon a conditions-based withdrawal from Afghanistan.
