Afghanistan withdrawal: How Afghans feared Trump 2020 deal would allow Taliban to return

Trump says Afghanistan will be ‘killing terrorists’ in 2020

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Former president Donald Trump has piled criticism on Joe Biden over the last week, dubbing his failure in Afghanistan the “greatest military defeat of all time”. Eminent Republicans have followed in his footsteps, calling for the President to either resign or face impeachment. But Mr Trump was first to take action with the Taliban and set off withdrawal last year when he signed an “agreement for bringing peace to Afghanistan” with the Taliban.

What was in the deal signed by Donald Trump and the Taliban?

Officials finalised the US-Taliban deal in Doha last year, on February 29.

At the time, US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar shook hands over an agreement that the insurgent group would cut ties with al-Qaeda.

American troops invaded following the 9/11 attacks in 2001 when they identified the Taliban – who, at the time, held power in the country – was hosting the terrorist cell on Afghan soil.

The agreement held Mr Trump to withdrawing forces by 8,600 in the first 135 days.

Other allies agreed to follow by slimming down their own forces in the country.

In exchange, the Taliban agreed to swap 5,000 Taliban prisoners with 1,000 Afghan security force personnel on March 10 that year.

And US officials would lift sanctions with the Taliban and work to have the United Nations (UN) do the same.

Mr Trump hailed the agreement as a resounding success, stating it would conclude a “long and hard journey”.

But local Afghans cast aspersions over what the deal would mean for their country.

One activist voiced fears that the Taliban realised last week.

Kabul-based activist Zahra Husseini told AFP the deal would degrade women’s places in Afghanistan.

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She told the news agency she didn’t “trust the Taliban”, adding she remembered how “they suppressed women when they were ruling.”

Ms Husseini added that she had a “bad feeling” it would “result in their return to power.”

Former US officials also traced the fall of Kabul back to Mr Trump’s deal last year.

Speaking to journalist Bari Weiss on her podcast “Honestly”, HR McMaster said the former President’s Secretary of State signed a “surrender agreement”.

Mr Trump’s former national security adviser dubbed the deal – signed by Mike Pompeo – “the capitulation agreement of 2020”.

Mr McMaster added he did not blame the Taliban for the defeat, adding: “We defeated ourselves.”

Other former Trump aides said he would have done the same thing.

John Bolton, who also advised the ex-President, said his former boss and Mr Biden are “like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.”

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