MONITORING (SW) – On his first visit to the Pentagon since taking office, US President Joe Biden has indicated he could abandon the approaching May 1 exit deadline to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan.
According to Washington Times, officials in the Biden administration have said any deal with the Taliban should be based on conditions on the ground rather than a date set on a calendar.
Biden’s trip Wednesday comes after the Pentagon said last month that the new administration would not commit to a full drawdown of troops from Afghanistan by May because the Taliban have not honored the commitments they made in their deal with the United States.
That agreement, which was negotiated under the Trump administration and signed in February 2020, calls for the Taliban to reduce violence and cut ties with terrorist organizations, among other demands. If the conditions of the deal were met, US forces would leave Afghanistan by May 2021. The US force level in Afghanistan went down to 2,500 troops just days before Trump left office, CNN reported.
“We need to meet the growing challenges posed by China to keep peace and defend our interests in the Indo-Pacific and globally,” Biden said in his first visit to the Pentagon since taking office.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Austin and other senior military and civilian leadership during the Wednesday visit prior to delivering remarks. Austin is the first Black secretary of defense, and Harris is the first Black vice president, as well as the first woman and first South Asian to hold the position.
Biden’s trip Wednesday comes after the Pentagon said last month that the new administration would not commit to a full drawdown of troops from Afghanistan by May because the Taliban have not honored the commitments they made in their deal with the United States.
That agreement, which was negotiated under the Trump administration and signed in February 2020, calls for the Taliban to reduce violence and cut ties with terrorist organizations, among other demands. If the conditions of the deal were met, US forces would leave Afghanistan by May 2021. The US force level in Afghanistan went down to 2,500 troops just days before Trump left office.
ENDS
