Setting Conditions for the Right Outcome in Afghanistan
January 29, 2021
The Trump administration began a negotiated peace process with the Taliban and the Afghan government. The Biden administration should continue the peace process but send a different signal about the United States’ long-term commitment to a stable outcome. The new administration has a key NATO meeting in February that will signal its intentions about how quickly, how many, and under what conditions the remaining U.S. troops will be drawn down. The Trump administration’s erratic and too rapid draw down in the last year weakened the hand of our diplomats and Afghan partners. It also left allies who have lost troops in Afghanistan and shared the burden with us wondering about U.S. reliability.
The Biden administration should at the very least seek a delay of six months on a full troop withdrawal and ultimately until the Taliban have met certain conditions. The goal should be a removal of U.S. troops when conditions on the ground are met. It is not in the United States’ long-term interest to have troops in Afghanistan indefinitely, but the United States wants to ensure that the social, economic, and political gains are preserved as best as possible while preventing terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to train and prepare another 9/11 style attack on the United States.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/setting-conditions-right-outcome-afghanistan
