Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Afghanistan on Thursday for a surprise visit less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced the full withdrawal of US forces from the country by September 11 this year.
While in Kabul, Blinken met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation, as well as members of Afghan civil society.
“During my visit, I wanted to demonstrate the continued commitment of the United States to the Islamic Republic and the people of Afghanistan,” Blinken said as he met Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul.
“The partnership is changing, but the partnership continues.”
The Secretary of State also met with U.S. troops at the U.S. Embassy. “What you and your predecessors have done over the last 20 years is truly extraordinary,” he told them.
“I am constantly in awe of what you have accomplished,” he added.
Ghani said on Thursday he respected the US decision to withdraw.
“Afghanistan’s proud security and defense forces are fully capable of defending its people and country, which they have consistently done,” he said on Twitter after a conversation Wednesday with Biden.
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Other leading Afghan government officials were not so optimistic.
Mir Rahman Rahmani, speaker of the Afghan parliament, said on Wednesday that the people of the country want to see foreign forces leave, but that the conditions have not yet been met. “
“It is possible that Afghanistan will turn into another civil war or become a haven for international terrorist organizations,” Speaker Rahmani warned in a speech on the parliamentary floor.
“We expect the withdrawal to be conditional and dependent on peace, security and long-term stability; otherwise history will repeat itself. ”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., a close ally of former President Donald Trump, said the withdrawal would backfire by prolonging the conflict and possibly even breathing new life into Al Qaeda. “What do we lose by pulling out? We lose the insurance policy against another 9/11,” Graham said.
Under the Trump administration, the US has signed an agreement with the Taliban that foreign troops would leave Afghanistan by May 1 in exchange for their commitment to denying Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, as well as to hold peace talks with an Afghan delegation. go.
Intra-Afghan negotiations last for months in Doha, Qatar. Turkey announced earlier this week that representatives of both the Afghan government and the insurgent group would meet in Istanbul later this month to speed up talks.
Biden announced on Wednesday that all U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan in time for the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that caused America’s invasion of the country.
“I am now the fourth president of the United States to present a U.S. troop representative in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats,” Biden said. “I will not give this responsibility on a fifth.”
“It’s time to end America’s longest war. It’s time for American troops to return home.”
Biden said the US would support the Afghan government and provide assistance to the Afghan national army and security. The US will also continue diplomatic and humanitarian work in the country and will support the peace negotiations.
About 2,500 US troops are serving in Afghanistan – the lowest number since 2001.
As part of their agreement with the US, the Taliban also pledged to reduce violence. But the fighting between the two parties continued despite the talks and civilian casualties and apolitical assassinations increased.
In the wake of Biden’s decision, the Taliban said they would not take part in any negotiations on the future of Afghanistan until all foreign troops had withdrawn.
In his speech in Brussels before his arrival in Kabul, Blinken warned that the Taliban must make a choice if they want international recognition or support, and insists that there is a series of incentives and discourses that will continue to form. what happens.’
“It is in the interest of no one, including the Taliban, to plunge Afghanistan back into a long war in a civil war that will terribly affect the country and everyone,” he said. ‘decide their future. ”
Blinken held a press conference in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin. Stoltenberg confirmed the withdrawal of all NATO-led forces on May 1, saying he plans to complete the withdrawal of all his troops within a few months.
“We went to Afghanistan together. We adjusted our attitude together. And we were united to leave together,” he said.
NATO currently has about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, of which more than 7,000 are non-US troops.
With nearly two decades on the ground, some 2,300 U.S. troops lost their lives in the country and more than 20,000 were wounded in what many called a ‘perpetual’ war.
More than 100,000 Afghan civilians have also been killed or injured in the fighting since the US invasion in 2001.
