It’s not just the intelligence community which is uneasy. Reports also note strong differences among lawmakers, with influential Senators like Lindsey Graham calling it “a disaster in the making”. Others felt it was a wrong message to the world.
The Taliban’s Response & Its Implications
That it was sending a wrong message was immediately visible in the Taliban response — “we have won the war, America has lost”. The Taliban official statement underlined their complete confidence in having the upper-hand, rejecting even this four month delay from the original 1 May withdrawal date of the Trump era ‘peace agreement’. Superior condescension was apparent in its acknowledging that “American officials have understood the Afghan situation to an extent, and the efforts of warmongering circles have failed”.
It also warned that since the US has breached the agreement, it “in principle opens the way for the Mujahideen… to take every necessary countermeasure, hence, the American side will be held responsible for all future consequences…”.
That would be hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic. Just days earlier, the Taliban attacked one of the top high security camp Forward Operating Base Chapman, and another on a NATO and US base in Kandahar.
The Istanbul meeting took place after the contentious Moscow meeting with (almost) all sides, and where India was not invited, which was followed by the ninth Heart of Asia conference, which India did attend, and which was disparaged by Turkish media for reasons including ‘Iranian influence’.
Turkish sources note that Ankara has trained ‘thousands’ of soldiers, and has some 21 schools and education centres in the country. In other words, Turkey sees itself as the “heart” of an Afghan solution, backed quietly by China and Pakistan. The cooks are multiplying even as the broth thickens.