Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Biden administration might have to “reconsider” the May 1st Afghanistan withdrawal deadline set by the US-Taliban peace deal. Like most proponents of continuing the war, Menendez says the Taliban is not living up to its end of the agreement.
“The Taliban is clearly not abiding by all of its commitments,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We may have to reconsider the May 1 deadline from the agreement that we had because the Taliban are simply violating it.”
One commitment the Taliban has lived up to is its pledge not to attack US forces. February 8th marked the first full year since the war started that no US troops died in combat in Afghanistan. If the US stays beyond May 1st against the will of the Taliban, US soldiers will again be targeted.
The Biden administration just put forward a proposal to the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government that calls for the formation of an interim government that is meant to bring about new elections. Afghan government officials appear to be opposed to the US plan, and the Taliban are reportedly deliberating on the proposal.
In a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani introducing the proposal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is considering all of its options in Afghanistan, including a withdrawal by May 1st, and a decision has not yet been made. A State Department official said on Monday that the US has “not made any decisions about our force posture in Afghanistan after May 1st.”
“The Taliban is clearly not abiding by all of its commitments,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We may have to reconsider the May 1 deadline from the agreement that we had because the Taliban are simply violating it.”
Yes Bob, how dare someone we made agreement with not living up to their end of the deal. We are above those types of things.
We can’t leave! Not with all that lithium and heroine ripe for our taking!
Send the bastard over to Afghanistan..