Donald Trump was “very determined” about the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, “whether it was as part of an agreement or without an agreement” – former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation told a US House committee of Foreign Affairs. closed-door interview on November 8, 2023, details of which were released after six months.
In his interview, Zalmay Khalilzad also said he believed the Trump administration's rhetoric led the Taliban to conclude that the US military would withdraw from Afghanistan regardless of the outcome of US-Taliban negotiations.
What seems clear from the interview is that during negotiations with the US on the Doha Withdrawal Agreement, the Taliban had already estimated that the US would leave Afghanistan regardless of those negotiations.
Other behind-closed-doors interviews reveal that some on the ground who implemented these policies believed that in addition to the rhetoric, the subsequent decisions further weakened the position of the U.S. and Afghan governments.
Ambassador Ross Wilson, charge d'affaires in Kabul in 2020-2021, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that it was a moral challenge and a “very, very difficult” process to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in Afghan custody according to the Doha deal. . He said it “contributed to moral distress and disillusionment among the Afghan security forces and the kind of broader law enforcement apparatus we depended on to go after bad guys.” He added that the action continued to “eat away at morale” as 2021 saw continued reports of increased returns of released prisoners to combat.
As part of the US-Taliban deal, the Trump administration agreed to an initial reduction of US forces from 13,000 to 8,600 troops by July 2020, followed by a full withdrawal by May 1, 2021, if the Taliban adheres to their obligations.
Regarding the withdrawal of US troops during the Trump administration, Ambassador Wilson said the withdrawal orders to 2,500 were “troubling.” On the other hand, Ambassador Khalilzad had said that if the Biden administration had reversed the troop withdrawal policy or tried to renegotiate or invalidate the Doha Agreement, the US would be “at war again” with the Taliban .
Khalilzad also said he was under “extreme pressure” to complete the military withdrawal before the end of Trump's presidential term. When questioned about why he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 27, 2021, “I don't believe the government will collapse, that the Taliban will take over,” Khalilzad gave varying explanations – from “personal judgment” to “informed by the intelligence”. He further claimed that he “misjudged it based on intelligence, the determination of the government and the capabilities of the armed forces, in which we had invested billions of dollars and we thought it was an effective fighting force.”
In August 2021, the US withdrew the last troops from Afghanistan, ending its military presence there after nearly two decades. The US departure resulted in the Taliban regaining control of the country.