Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, creating yet another political spectacle in an effort to target President Biden. Entirely absent from this hearing, however, was any accountability by Republicans for former President Trump, who actually brokered the 2020 deal with the Taliban and promised a full-scale withdrawal in the first place. Trump and his MAGA allies even negotiated a prisoner swap, releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners against the wishes of Afghanistan’s elected leaders. The same Republicans who criticized the Biden administration’s plan to end the war in Afghanistan today praised Trump’s disastrous deal back in 2020. House Republicans would rather play partisan games than conduct legitimate oversight and prioritize the top issues Americans are facing.
November 2020: Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with the Taliban’s peace negotiation team.
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEGOTIATED A BAD DEAL THAT BOLSTERED THE TALIBAN AND UNDERMINED THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT
In February 2020, The Trump Administration Negotiated ‘A Very Weak Agreement’ with the Taliban to Withdraw All Forces From Afghanistan in May 2021 With ‘No Enforcement Mechanism for the Taliban to Keep Its Word.’ “In February 2020, Trump announced that there was a deal. The basic contours: The United States was to get out of Afghanistan in 14 months [May 1, 2021] and, in exchange, the Taliban agreed not to let Afghanistan become a haven for terrorists and to stop attacking U.S. service members. The deal laid out an explicit timetable for the United States and NATO to pull out their forces: In the first 100 days or so, they would reduce troops from 14,000 to 8,600 and leave five military bases. Over the next nine months, they would vacate all the rest. ‘The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will complete withdrawal of all remaining forces from Afghanistan within the remaining nine and a half (9.5) months,’ the deal reads. ‘The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from remaining bases.’ […] One gaping problem, say scholars (including some from the Trump administration): The peace agreement came with no enforcement mechanism for the Taliban to keep its word. The Taliban basically had to sign a pledge saying it wouldn’t harbor terrorists. Nowhere did the Taliban have to — nor did it choose to — denounce al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that launched the 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan, Miller writes. The biggest tangible commitment from the Taliban looked like this: For seven days before the deal was signed, its leaders significantly reduced their attacks on Afghan forces to show they were capable of controlling the group across the country. But the deal didn’t require that the Taliban stop its attacks against Afghan security forces. Overall, it was a pretty good deal for the Taliban, critics said. ‘Trump all but assured the future course of events would reflect the Taliban’s interests far more than the United States,’ Miller writes. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser, has recently called it ‘a surrender agreement with the Taliban.’ Another member of Trump’s National Security Council said it was ‘a very weak agreement.’” [Washington Post, 8/20/21]
Inspector General: Trump Negotiated A Bad Deal With The Taliban That Bolstered That Taliban And Undermined The Afghan Government. In February 2023, the special inspector general for Afghanistan released a report pointing to the Trump administration’s deal with the Taliban that undermined the government of Afghanistan and precipitated the withdrawal: “The decision to withdraw all U.S. military personnel and dramatically reduce U.S. support to the ANDSF destroyed the morale of Afghan soldiers and police. […] The U.S.-Taliban agreement signed under the Trump administration in 2020 made it clear that this was no longer the case, resulting in a sense of abandonment within the ANDSF and the Afghan population. The agreement set in motion a series of events crucial to understanding the ANDSF’s collapse. […] The U.S.-Taliban agreement introduced tremendous uncertainty into the U.S.-Afghan relationship. Many of its provisions were contained in secret written and verbal agreements between U.S. and Taliban envoys, which the Trump administration classified. […] Taliban propaganda weaponized that vacuum against local commanders and elders by falsely asserting the Taliban had a secret deal with the United States for certain districts or provinces to be surrendered to it.” [Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, 2/1/23]
TRUMP’S DEAL INCLUDED RELEASING 5,000 TALIBAN PRISONERS
The Trump Administration Agreed to Withdraw All Forces and Release 5,000 Taliban Prisoners In February 2020. “The deal laid out an explicit timetable for the United States and NATO to pull out their forces: In the first 100 days or so, they would reduce troops from 14,000 to 8,600 and leave five military bases. Over the next nine months, they would vacate all the rest. ‘The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will complete withdrawal of all remaining forces from Afghanistan within the remaining nine and a half (9.5) months,’ the deal reads. ‘The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from remaining bases.’ The United States would release 5,000 Taliban prisoners; the Taliban would release 1,000 of its prisoners. The Taliban’s end of the deal asked a lot from the group — too much to be realistic, critics said. In addition to making sure nowhere in the country harbored a terrorist cell, the Taliban agreed to be responsible for any individual who might want to attack the United States from Afghanistan, including new immigrants to the country.” [Washington Post, 8/20/21]
Afghan President: Trump Prison Release Poses a ‘Danger’ To the World. “Hundreds of Taliban inmates that are set to be released as a precondition to peace talks with Kabul pose a danger ‘to the world’, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday. Ghani’s government is due to meet with the Taliban in Doha in the coming days for the two sides’ direct talks aimed at ending nearly 19 years of war. They are set to meet once Kabul has released 400 Taliban prisoners in a move that has drawn widespread condemnation after it emerged many of the inmates were involved in attacks that killed scores of Afghans and foreigners. ‘Until this issue, there was a consensus on the desirability of peace but not on the cost of it,’ Ghani said in a video conference organized by a US think tank. ‘We have now paid the major installment on cost and that means peace will have consequences,’ he added, noting that the release of ‘hardened criminals’ and drug dealers was ‘likely to pose a danger both to us and to (America) and to the world’. The freeing of the 400 prisoners comes after Kabul already released about 5,000 lower-risk Taliban inmates.” [DAWN, 8/14/20]
A U.S. Peace Envoy Denounced Trump’s Prisoner Deal with the Taliban. “The US envoy for peace in Afghanistan has told the BBC he was ‘not happy about’ a controversial deal to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in order to secure historic peace talks. The release of 5,000 prisoners was a condition, agreed between the US and the Taliban after their peace talks last year, to begin these negotiations. […] The Afghan government was not involved in making the agreement, and had concerns about releasing thousands of militants. Last month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani warned that the prisoners’ release was a ‘danger’ to the world, AFP news agency reported at the time. ‘Until this issue, there was a consensus on the desirability of peace but not on the cost of it,’ Mr Ghani said. But Mr Khalilzad denied that agreeing to release so many prisoners – some of whom are considered highly dangerous – was ‘a mistake.’” [BBC, 9/14/20]
TRUMP SAID HE THOUGHT HIS DEAL WITH THE TALIBAN WOULD “WORK OUT VERY WELL.”
Trump: “The Taliban Has Given A Pledge, And A Very Strong Pledge, And We’ll See How That All Works Out. We Hope It’s Going To Work Out Very Well.” TRUMP: “The Taliban has given a pledge, and a very strong pledge, and we’ll see how that all works out. We hope it’s going to work out very well. I think they have big incentives to do it, but they have to take care of the terrorists and kill the terrorists.” [Trump Press Conference, Washington DC, 2/29/20]
Trump Said The U.S. Was ‘Negotiating With The Taliban’ In Afghanistan ‘And We Are Doing, I Think, Very Well In That Regard.’ TRUMP: “Yeah, we have already withdrawn quite a few. And we’re doing it very slowly and very safely. And we’re working with Pakistan and with — as you know, we’re negotiating with the Taliban. And we are doing, I think, very well in that regard.” [Trump Remarks Before Bilateral Meeting With Prime Minister Khan Of The Islamic Republic Of Pakistan, Washington DC, 7/22/19]
TRUMP SAID HE HAD A “VERY GOOD” RELATIONSHIP WITH TALIBAN LEADER BARADAR
Trump Said He Had A ‘Very Good’ Relationship With Taliban Leader Baradar. TRUMP: “The relationship is very good that I have with the mullah. And we had a good, long conversation today. And, you know, they want to cease the violence. They’d like to cease violence also.” [Trump Remarks In A Roundtable Briefing On Coronavirus, Bethesda MD, 3/3/20]
TRUMP WAS GOING TO INVITE THE TALIBAN TO CAMP DAVID
Trump Planned to Invite the Taliban to Camp David, Three Days Before the Anniversary of 9/11. “In the days that followed, Mr. Trump came up with an even more remarkable idea — he would not only bring the Taliban to Washington, but to Camp David, the crown jewel of the American presidency. The leaders of a rugged militant organization deemed terrorists by the United States would be hosted in the mountain getaway used for presidents, prime ministers and kings just three days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the Afghan war.” [New York Times, 9/8/19]
UNDER TRUMP, SPECIAL VISAS THAT WOULD HAVE ALLOWED AFGHAN ALLIES TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY WERE CUT
The Trump Administration Cut Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Refugees. “The Biden White House also pointed CNN to a viral Twitter thread from Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Vice President Pence, who said the Trump administration did take steps [to] restrict refugee admissions and undermine the SIV program. And Adam Bates, policy counsel for the International Refugee Assistance Project, which represents Special Immigrant Visa applicants and refugees, noted that the number of SIVs issued did decrease under the Trump administration. Under the Obama administration, the number of Afghan SIVs issued increased, from 262 in fiscal year 2009 to 3,626 in FY 2016. But under Trump, the number dropped to 1,649 in FY 2018, increased to 2,347 in FY 2019 and culminated in 1,799 for FY 2020. ‘President Trump also oversaw a substantial reduction in the issuance of those visas compared to President Obama,’ Bates told CNN.” [CNN, 8/25/21]
The Trump Administration Slowed Visa Processing for Afghan Refugees. “…Then, the Trump Admin started slowing down SIV processing. When Biden took over, there were 10,000 unfilled visas, despite 17,000 applications in the pipeline. This dovetailed with the assault by Trump and Republicans to destroy other refugee programs that bring Afghans to the U.S. Obama admitted over 2,700 Afghan refugees. Trump admitted 400, bc he had dismantled the refugee system. Biden had to rebuild it. And today Trump Republicans are making it clear they will oppose bringing more Afghan refugees to the U.S.. Steven Miller: ‘Resettling [Afghans] in America is not about solving a humanitarian crisis; it’s about accomplishing an ideological objective to change America.’ Quite simply, any report on the ‘catastrophe’ in Afghanistan that doesn’t include these facts…is not worth your time.” [Esquire, 8/23/21]