The discussions come as violence surges in Afghanistan and the president continues to falsely assert victory in the November 3 election. Trump, who fired his defence secretary and elevated loyalists at the Pentagon last week, has also blocked agencies from working with Biden’s transition team.
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Days before being dismissed, former Pentagon chief Mark Esper sent Trump a classified memo that cautioned that conditions were not adequate to make additional troop cuts in Afghanistan, citing the possibility of undermining peace talks and a variety of other factors. His assessment was based on input from senior military leaders.
A deal struck between US and Taliban negotiators in February calls for the United States to withdraw all troops by May 2021 if the Taliban meets certain conditions, including making a break with al-Qaeda.
In practice, military officials have hoped they could. But each side has accused the other of violations, and military leaders have said for months that decisions about steps to meet that withdrawal objective would be based on the situation on the ground.
