US Forces Continue Afghanistan Pullout While Afghan Releases Final 400 Terrorists

Although not necessarily following the script, United States forces are nevertheless continuing the drawdown from Afghanistan and talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban are set to continue. That was made possible by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s capitulation in agreeing to free the final 400 of 5,000 terrorists whose releases were demanded by the Taliban. The original plan was for the reduction in US forces to come before the bilateral talks had commenced but the drawdown will apparently be continuing simultaneously with the negotiations based on comments made by Defense Secretary Mark Esper to Fox News over the weekend. There are approximately 8,600 American troops in Afghanistan currently and according to Esper, the total will be under 5,000 and possibly as low as 4,000 by the end of November. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated that the US will make certain that the Taliban live up to their agreement with Afghanistan but the secretary of state’s reassurances are being met with skepticism given the withdrawal schedule and the overriding American interest of being freed of what many view as the quagmire of Afghanistan. For its part, the Taliban have not discontinued the use of violence against Afghan forces in anticipation of the Doha talks, and in fact threatened to increase the level of attacks if Ghani refused to release the final 400 prisoners that committed particularly heinous acts and whom the president claimed he lacked authority to repatriate. But on Sunday, he relented.