The Taliban is No ‘Partner,’ Says Top US Special Ops Commander
After withdrawing, the US must rely on other Afghans and foreign governments for intelligence to track and target ISIS-K.
By Patrick Tucker
Technology Editor
November 20, 2021 02:26 PM ET
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Three months after the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan, the top commander of U.S. special operations forces said he does not see the new Taliban government as a partner against the terrorist threat from ISIS, but rather he urged the United States to continue working with other Afghans and foreign governments there.
Since President Joe Biden announced in May that he would end the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, he and Defense Department leaders have claimed that U.S. forces could continue to hit key targets there via “over the horizon” operations without ground troops like forward observers or joint terminal attack controllers. On Friday, U.S. Special Operations Command’s Gen. Richard Clarke said that in that time it has become more difficult to hunt and find terrorists from afar. And while natural enmity between the Taliban and ISIS suggested to some that the United States may be able to work with the new Afghan government on counterterrorism operations, Clarke disagreed.
“I don’t see them as a partner,” Clarke said of the Taliban. In fact, the threat of terrorism across the region “still exists,” and is growing, he said.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/11/taliban-no-partner-says-top-us-special-ops-commander/186998/
