President Trump's reelection bid received a vote of support Friday from an entity most in his party would reject: the Taliban.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told CBS News in a phone interview, "We believe that Trump is going to win the upcoming election because he has proved himself a politician who accomplished all the major promises he had made to American people, although he might have missed some small things, but did accomplish the bigger promises, so it is possible that the U.S. people who experienced deceptions in the past will once again trust Trump for his decisive actions."
Mujahid added, "We think the majority of the American population is tired of instability, economic failures and politicians' lies and will trust again on Trump because Trump is decisive, could control the situation inside the country. Other politicians, including Biden, chant unrealistic slogans. Some other groups, which are smaller in size but are involved in the military business including weapons manufacturing companies' owners and others who somehow get the benefit of war extension, they might be against Trump and support Biden, but their numbers among voters is low."
Another senior Taliban leader told CBS News, "We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan."
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Saturday that they "reject" the Taliban support. "The Taliban should know that the president will always protect American interests by any means necessary," Murtaugh said.
The Trump administration signed a historic pact with the Taliban in February in which the U.S. and its allies set a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw by the spring of 2021. The pact requires the Taliban to break from al Qaeda and negotiate a power-sharing deal with Afghan government rivals.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated last month, after meeting with Taliban co-founder and political deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Doha, that the U.S. was set for a full withdrawal from Afghanistan by April or May of 2021.
The Obama administration was unsuccessful in its attempts to broker a similar diplomatic deal. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told "Face the Nation" in February that the U.S. should draw down but also keep a residual force of "several thousand people to make sure we have a place from which we can operate" should al Qaeda or ISIS gain capacity to strike the U.S.
This week, President Trump said all troops should be "home by Christmas," although it is unclear if that is actually expected to happen or if he was simply reiterating his position on wanting to bring troops home.
The Taliban also noted it thinks highly of Mr. Trump's "America first" creed.
"It is the slogan of Trump from the start that they are not cops for the world and don't want a single flag and anthem for the globe, but their priority is America," Mujahid said. "When there is no interference by U.S. in other countries, we believe they are facing fewer threats compared to their aggressive position. Trump has a concrete policy in this regard and it is better for America."
The senior member of the Taliban praised the president's honesty. "Honestly, Trump was much more honest with us than we thought, even we were stunned with his offer to meet Taliban in Camp David."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/taliban-on-trump-we-hope-he-will-win-the-election-withdraw-us-troops/
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The Taliban are religio-nationalists. A product of Pakistan's madaris (religious schools), specifically of the Deobandi flavor. Their reign was brutal, especially towards females and minorities. However, the Taliban were no less brutal than their predecessors, Burhannudin Rabbani's Jamaat-i-Islami. After 19 years of US military intervention, while conditions appear to have immensely improved for females (especially in urban areas) and minorities, these gains might as well be mirages. In reality with Western funding what has been built is a House of Cards vice tangible embedded improvements. The reasons for this failure are varied and complex.
Suffice it to say, history won't judge this intervention favorably. One that has cost American taxpayers' over a Trillion and, worse, led to thousands of US military casualties with no "mission accomplishment" because, frankly, there was never a clear cut mission with an end goal.
As I wrote in 2010 in a Christian Science Monitor article titled " Bring Back a King," the writing was already on the wall.
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0630/Bold-move-to-save-Afghanistan-Bring-back-a-king
The Bush Administration had installed a puppet, Karzai, who had no credibility with the Afghan people. Not even fellow Pushtuns. Initial Afghan exuberance at the overthrow of the Taliban's repressive regime brought about widespread wishful thinking, even amongst a populace that, after decades of war and hardship, should've been more battle hardened (thus wiser) to let their guard down. But their wishful thinking (aka exuberance) was understandably short lived.
The question that one needs to ask is this: Why wasn't King/Amir Zahir Shah not reinstated as the majority of the people wanted?
That is a question for the ages. Even the Taliban's rank and file may have ended their jang (war) and gotten behind a Constitutional Monarchy notwithstanding the Islamists of various hues.
At this stage, it is long overdue to pull out US forces and hand back Afghanistan to the Afghans. This fight is their fight, not ours. What we should do it warn its neighbors, especially the Pakistanis, to resist the urge to meddle (and ensure continued instability), and establish some clear red lines that they must not cross.
Only Afghans can save Afghanistan.
