As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up his latest overseas trip, he issued a demand to the Taliban to show they are really serious about reaching a deal that would bring peace to Afghanistan and pave the way for the withdrawal of U.S. troops after more than 18 years of war.
“We got close once before to having an agreement, a piece of paper that we mutually executed, and the Taliban weren’t able to demonstrate either their will or their capacity, or both, to deliver on a reduction in violence,” Pompeo said in response to a question at a news conference in Uzbekistan. “And so, what we are demanding now is demonstrable evidence of their will and capacity to reduce violence, to take down the threat.”
Pompeo was speaking in Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent, where he met foreign ministers from five Central Asian countries, before returning to Washington.
“We’re working on a peace and reconciliation plan, putting the commas in the right place, getting the sentences right,” Pompeo said, “We’re hopeful we can achieve that, but we’re not there yet, and work certainly remains.”
Pompeo’s challenge to the Taliban comes as the latest Pentagon report to Congress on security and stability in Afghanistan shows the group has stepped up its level of violence in recent months as part of a “fight-and-talk” strategy aimed at disrupting the democratic process, pressuring the United States, and delegitimizing the Afghan government.
The Trump administration’s point man on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, arrived in Kabul over the weekend and informed President Ashraf Ghani that, so far, there had been no significant progress in peace talks, according to a statement issued by Ghani’s office.
Read more from our senior writer on defense and national security in today’s edition of Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense.
