Fired Defense Secretary Blames Trump For Lousy Afghan Deal

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said earlier in the week that he was concerned that then-President Donald Trump "undermined" the US' 2020 pact with the Taliban by pushing for US forces to leave Afghanistan without the Taliban meeting the conditions of the deal, Paul R. LeBanc reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Former Defense Secretary, Mark Esper

The Trump administration's "Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan" outlined a series of commitments from the US and the Taliban related to troop levels, counterterrorism, and intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about "a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire."

But, Esper told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, "my concern was that President Trump, by continuing to want to withdraw American forces out of Afghanistan, undermined the agreement, which is why in the fall when he was calling for a return of US forces by Christmas, I objected and formally wrote a letter to him, a memo based on recommendations from the military chain of command and my senior civilian leadership that we not go further -- that we not reduce below 4,500 troops unless and until conditions were met by the Taliban."

"Otherwise," Esper continued, "we would see a number of things play out, which are unfolding right now in many ways." Trump fired Esper in November 2020 in the wake of the presidential election.

After years of negotiations, the Taliban and the Trump administration finally signed a peace deal in 2020. The US agreed to withdraw troops and release some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, while the Taliban agreed to take steps to prevent any group or individual, including al Qaeda, from using Afghanistan to threaten the security of the US or its allies.

But the deal didn't bring about peace. Following the agreement, violence in Afghanistan grew to its highest levels in two decades and the Taliban increased their control of wider swaths of the country.

By June of this year, the Taliban contested or controlled an estimated 50% to 70% of Afghan territory outside of urban centers, according to a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report.

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