State Dept. Official Says US Won’t Take Taliban ‘At Their Word’ Despite Outsourcing Kabul Security
Michael Ginsberg
General Assignment Reporter
September 01, 2021 4:22 PM ET
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland claimed that the U.S. will not take the Taliban “at their word” in dealings with the terrorist group.
“We are not going to take them at their word, we are going to take them at their deeds. So they have a lot to prove, based on their old track record. Now, they also have a lot to gain if they can run Afghanistan far, far differently than they did the last time they were in power,” Nuland said at a Wednesday press conference.
U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence officials reportedly entrusted the Taliban with a list of names of Americans and Afghans that they expected to be allowed in to Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), and allowed the group to control security outside HKIA. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed to NBC that the U.S. government gave Taliban security officials a manifest including the names of bus passengers, but denied that the U.S. “put anyone in any further jeopardy.”
Taliban fighters have already begun killing American allies and other opponents, according to multiple reports. Many Special Immigrant Visa holders have been forced into hiding.
The co-founder of the Taliban, Abdul Ghani Baradar, reportedly offered the U.S. military the choice to take control of Kabul when Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country. However, U.S. military officials rejected the offer, leading to the Taliban taking over the city.
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https://dailycaller.com/2021/09/01/victoria-nuland-state-department-taliban-at-their-word-afghanistan/
