The US keeps on showing its hand in Afghanistan to the Taliban

The US keeps on showing its hand in Afghanistan to the Taliban

Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The United States (US), under President Joe Biden, keeps on showing its military hand to the Taliban. Hence, despite current American airstrikes that are helping the armed forces of Afghanistan, the US is also telling the Taliban that even air cover will become minimal.

John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said, “The drawdown … in many ways, in many facets, is all but complete… The where and the when in terms of feasibility of these strikes is going to be different and it’s going to decline.”

Hence, senior American officials, military personnel, and Biden are signaling that the pullout of American forces isn’t changeable. Similarly, current airstrikes to help the beleaguered armed forces of Afghanistan will be curtailed in the near future. Therefore, the Taliban understands that the ball is in their court if the armed forces of Afghanistan become overrun.

Biden, in reference to the armed forces of Afghanistan, said, “They’ve got to want to fight… We spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces… They outnumber the Taliban.”

Biden continued, “They have to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”

The leader of America also said that the withdrawal date is August 31 and this will not change. It isn’t open to “reconsideration.”

AP reports, “Showing little interest in a diplomatic settlement, Taliban commanders have sped up their battlefield advances ahead of the U.S. military’s withdrawal at the end of this month. They’ve seized six provincial capitals in the past week.”

It appears that older warlords and anti-Taliban forces are seeking to accommodate mutual support at this difficult time. For example, in a security meeting held in Mazar-e-Sharif, the former vice president was in attendance. Therefore, Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and other familiar names from the past are in discussions with the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

The following weeks are going to witness many military offensives by the Taliban and counter-offensives by government forces – and regional allies who also fear the Taliban.

https://www.voanews.com/us-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal/pentagon-us-airstrikes-afghanistan-having-effect-taliban

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-middle-east-taliban-93f321f517e23144cd7c6f28f46044b3

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-174150