Trump pulls out of secret Taliban talks
He was close to deal with group US had vowed to wipe out
DONALD Trump has admitted being on the verge of holding a secret peace summit with the Taliban – which he cancelled after a fresh terror attack.
The revelation shows the US president was hoping to extricate his forces from Afghanistan in co-operation with the Islamist militants, whose harbouring of Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden prompted America’s invasion in 2001.
The US had aimed to destroy the Taliban after the 9/11 massacre was plotted from training camps on its soil.
But Mr Trump’s admission that talks had been ongoing shows he is so keen to bring the last 14,000 US troops home that he is willing to work with the implacable enemies of the West his soldiers tried and failed to defeat.
Critics will see his co-operation with the Taliban as an admission of failure and ask why 454 UK and 2,400 US troops had to die in Afghanistan if it will all end in the Islamist group resuming control.
A stark detail is that the talks were due to take place days before the 18th anniversary of the attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre and elsewhere on September 11, 2001, which killed more than 2,000 civilians.
Republican congressman for Illinois Adam Kinzinger said yesterday: ‘Never should leaders of a terrorist organisation that hasn’t renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country.’
Tory MP Rory Stewart, an exarmy officer who ran a charity in Kabul for three years, said talking to the Taliban was inevitable – but warned Afghanistan should not be abandoned in a hurry. Mr Trump revealed on Saturday he had been about to host the Afghan militants at his official country residence Camp David in Maryland but cancelled it following an attack by the group on Thursday.
He tweeted: ‘Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan [Ashraf Ghani], were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday.
‘Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they [the Taliban] admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great, great soldiers and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations.
‘What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they only made it worse!’
It followed a year-long process led by US diplomat, Afghanborn Zalmay Khalilzad, who held nine rounds of talks with the Taliban, mostly in Qatar.
Controversially, the Afghan government was not directly involved. The Taliban has been refusing to deal with Mr Ghani, saying he is a ‘puppet’ of America. But regardless of Mr Trump’s anger, talks with the fanatical group could yet resume. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday: ‘I hope it’s the case the Taliban will change their behaviour and recommit to things we’ve been talking about. In the end, this will be resolved through a series of conversations.’
The Taliban said that America ‘will be more harmed than anyone’ by breaking off talks, adding it had ‘finalised’ plans for the US to start pulling out soldiers in return for promises from the militants.
A spokesman said on Twitter: ‘We still... believe that the American side will come back to this position... we will not be satisfied until we witness the complete end of the occupation.’
‘Bargaining position’