On the other hand, if this uber-wealthy philanthropist is now in harmony with the globalist, blame-America-first chorus, that would be bad news at time when bad news is hardly in short supply.
The statement concludes with a prayer for Allah to “guide” all of “our people” in Afghanistan, Palestine, the Islamic Maghreb, East Africa, the Levant, and all of the Muslim lands elsewhere.
The Taliban effectively controls districts that surround several provincial capitals, as well as the roadways that lead into these capitals. Farah City, Ghazni City, Kunduz City, Lashkar Gah, Maimana, and Tirin Kot are all essentially surrounded by the Taliban.
Of course, Pompeo’s remarks came in the context of the Trump administration’s deal with the Taliban. While committing to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan in 14 months, President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have endorsed the Taliban as America’s counterterrorism partner. As I wrote in last week’s Vital Interests newsletter, that doesn’t make sense. But now we can add one more reason the deal is a bad one. In order to justify the withdrawal agreement, Secretary Pompeo is only seeing what he wants to see—just like President Obama.
Instead, the Taliban committed to preventing al Qaeda from attacking the U.S. and its allies. This is the same commitment the Taliban made numerous times prior to Sept. 11, 2001. The Taliban has made similar promises since 9/11, yet it has harbored al Qaeda and other terror groups that have plotted against the U.S. and its allies.