As the Trump administration tries to figure out what to do next in Afghanistan, the Taliban makes its wishes clear: It wants the United States out.
That the Taliban would want U.S. forces out is a given. What’s surprising is that its wish might come true: Defense Secretary James Mattis on Monday told reporters that “all options” – including the use of military contractors and full troop withdrawal – were on the table, but that “the strategic decisions have not been made.”
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the Taliban issued a statement addressing President Donald Trump, saying that the “situation in Afghanistan is far worse” than he realizes and that he should stop listening to “lying corrupt” Afghan leaders and “stooges.”
The Taliban, which currently holds more territory in the central Asian country than at any time since the U.S. invasion in 2001, made its preference clear: U.S. troops should leave.
“Previous experiences have shown that sending more troops to Afghanistan will not result in anything other than further destruction of American military and economical might,” read the statement.
The most decisive thing the President Donald Trump has done so far in Afghanistan is to drop the “mother of all bombs” (MOAB) on a complex of caves in Achin in April.
The bomb (a 21,600-pound device – the largest non-nuclear one used in combat) was meant to decimate an ISIS enclave in the area. There were unconfirmed reports of roughly 100 ISIS fighters being killed, but even if true, the powerful blast has failed to stop ISIS in its tracks.
The Taliban, meanwhile, continue their daily attacks around the country, targeting civilians and security forces alike.
Adam Stump, a pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on the Taliban statement and said there is no timeline for neither when the “multiple options” will be presented to the president, nor a deadline by which the president is to decide the course of action.
“There’s a full range of options – we don’t discuss what the specific options are,” said Stump, who also declined to say how many options were being considered.
Aside from troop withdrawal, one option could see the United States sending roughly 4,000 troops to Afghanistan to bolster the 8,500 there. Another could include hiring thousands of military contractors – although the use of such contractors has resulted in civilian deaths and backlash in the past.