Image Courtesy: Central Intelligence Agency, Released into the public domain | Wikimedia Commons
CIA Director William J. Burns held a secret meeting with the Taliban’s leadership while in Kabul on Monday.
The pair went over a variety of things in the meeting but it is alleged to have mainly focused on the withdrawal and the possibility of expanding the pullout deadline.
From The Daily Caller:
CIA Director William J. Burns secretly met with the leader of the Taliban in Kabul on Monday, The Washington Post reported.
Burns met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s de-facto leader, in the highest-level in-person meeting between the Biden administration and the Taliban since the group seized Kabul, several U.S. officials told The Washington Post. The meeting took place amid the Biden administration’s continued efforts to withdraw American citizens and Afghan allies as the Taliban consolidates its rule.
The U.S. currently plans to withdraw all personnel by Aug. 31, but President Joe Biden indicated he could extend that time frame if there are still people left in Afghanistan. (RELATED: ‘This Is A Massive F*** Up’: Team Organizing Private Flights Out Of Afghanistan Says The Biden Administration Has Been An ‘Impediment’ To Their Evacuations)
Taliban spokesman Dr. Suhail Shaheen warned Biden in an interview with Sky News that “there would be consequences” if U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan past Aug. 31, calling the date a “red line.”
Other than the United States’ massive military advantage over the Taliban, America has very few cards in its hand in these discussions.
Well, if I read about it over morning coffee, I guess it is not really a secret.
They just wanted their cut.