The resolution of last week’s US election has meant that nations are beginning to react to the change, and where they expect President-elect Biden will fall on various issues. In Afghanistan, there appears to be a lot of optimism on both sides.
Though Biden has been seen as somewhat unsure about the Trump-era peace deal in Afghanistan, the Taliban say they fully expect Biden to abide by the deal as already reached. The deal was signed back in February, and the US has already fulfilled much of it with troop cuts.
President Ghani congratulated Biden’s victory, and said he expects improved partnership in anti-terror. Other Afghans suggested they expect a slowdown of the pullout, accusing Trump of being “hasty.”
The Taliban is clearly not on board for that, and with Trump planning everyone out by Christmas, it’s not likely Biden would have wiggle room to drag things out much without risking violating the deal in a serious way. Since the deal is a main US diplomatic achievement of recent years, keeping it intact is likely important.
Afghan Govt, Taliban Both Have High Hopes for Biden Presidency
Taliban expects peace deal to survive the election
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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