Only Trump, Mike Pence, and Mike Pompeo seem to be defending Trump's 2020 Taliban peace deal


Few people seem impressed with President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan, a sooner-than-expected military-run airlift operation from Kabul's civilian airport. Biden says his options were limited by a February 2020 peace treaty former President Donald Trump's team signed with the Taliban in Doha requiring all U.S. forces to exit Afghanistan by May 1.
Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Vice President Mike Pence have all said this week that if Biden followed Trump's Doha agreement better, Afghanistan wouldn't be such a mess. But they can't quite agree on why that's true, and few other high-ranking Trump national security officials seem to agree with them.
Pompeo told Fox News Sunday "we would have demanded that the Taliban actually deliver on the conditions that we laid out in the agreement," including engaging "in meaningful power-sharing agreement" talks, "before we completed our requirement to fully withdraw." ("The Taliban have not violated any of the written conditions of the four-page agreement signed in Doha," The New York Times notes.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Pence argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the Taliban only took over the country because Biden broke the Doha agreement by not withdrawing all U.S. forces by Trump's May 1 deadline.
On the other hand, Trump's first national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said Pompeo "signed a surrender agreement with the Taliban" and traced Afghanistan's collapse "back to the capitulation agreement of 2020." Lisa Curtis, an Afghanistan expert on Trump's National Security Council, told The Associated Press "the Doha agreement was a very weak agreement" that gave the Taliban too much — including 5,000 released prisoners — and seriously weakened the Afghan government.
Trump's defense secretary during the Taliban negotiations, Mark Esper, told CNN Wednesday that Trump "undermined" his own deal by publicly pushing to withdraw all U.S. troops even if the Taliban didn't live up to its side of the treaty. Christopher Miller, Esper's successor, told Defense One that Trump never planned to withdraw U.S. troops and considered the treaty a "play" to get Afghanistan's president to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the Taliban.
"In many ways, this is an overdue conversation," Aaron Blake writes at The Washington Post. "Trump's negotiations with the Taliban weren't huge news outside foreign policy circles because the war wasn't front-of-mind at the time," mostly. Still, he said, "it's striking" that so many "people who served in high-ranking foreign policy roles in the Trump administration seem to recognize the rise of the Taliban isn't going to make Trump's decision look like a great idea."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Gavin Newsom mulls California redistricting to counter Texas gerrymandering
TALKING POINTS A controversial plan has become a major flashpoint among Democrats struggling for traction in the Trump era
-
6 perfect gifts for travel lovers
The Week Recommends The best trip is the one that lives on and on
-
How can you get the maximum Social Security retirement benefit?
the explainer These steps can help boost the Social Security amount you receive
-
'For frequent travelers, the costs add up'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
'Singling out crypto for special scrutiny would be misguided'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year