Fear of Taliban conquering Kabul are overblown, says US envoy to Afghanistan 9 hours ago In this May 5, 2020, file photo, graffiti depicts Washington s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban delegation, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Rahmat Gul/AP) WASHINGTON Predictions that the Taliban will quickly overrun Afghan government forces and conquer Kabul once U.S. and coalition forces have fully withdrawn are unduly pessimistic, Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan said Tuesday. “I personally believe that the statements that their forces will disintegrate and the Talibs will take over in short order are mistaken,” Zalmay Khalilzad told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, whose members expressed deep worry that President Joe Biden’s decision to fully withdraw by September will lead to chaos and intensified civil war.
DoD stays mum on regional troop presence plans after Afghanistan withdrawal 2 hours ago Members of the Afghan International Security Force patrol a street in Nad Ali District in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in June 2010. (Spc. Joseph Wilson/Army) Defense officials are vowing to maintain some U.S. troop presence near Afghanistan for counterterrorism operations into the future, but would not say where that force would be based or whether it could be in place before all American troops leave the war-torn country later this fall. “Those planning efforts are in parallel [with the drawdown], but they’re not linked,” said David Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs, during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday.
Gen. Mark Milley declined to say whether Afghanistan s security forces are fully ready to stand up to the Taliban without direct international backing during a potential Taliban offensive.
Biden says US withdrawal from Afghanistan shows ‘American leadership’ 2 hours ago President Joe Biden, center, speaks to a joint session of Congress on April 28 at the U.S. Capitol as Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (watch. (Doug Mills/via AP Pool) Removing U.S. troops from Afghanistan won’t endanger national security but will demonstrate “American leadership” by halting the cycle of endless armed conflict, President Joe Biden argued in his address to Congress on Wednesday night. In his first formal speech to lawmakers since becoming president nearly 100 days ago, Biden focused largely on his domestic spending and economic plans, including measures to raise the national minimum wage, make college classes more affordable and expand job training programs.
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