Need Measures To Weaken Taliban, Says Former US National Security Advisor

A former US National Security Advisor called for measures to weaken the Taliban and strengthen the Afghan people. HR McMaster said that destructive acts, such as aid to the Taliban, must be prevented, as it strengthens the group's foundations.

According to the Trump administration's national security advisor, more money in the hands of the Taliban will cause more people to suffer in Afghanistan.

The United States has provided more than $2.5 billion in aid to Afghanistan over the past three years. Although the aid is sent to Afghanistan under the guise of humanitarian aid, critics claim that the Taliban benefits from it in the form of taxes from aid organisations and the creation of aid institutions belonging to the group.

Speaking at a meeting of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held at George Washington University on Thursday evening, McMaster said that what has happened in Afghanistan over the past three years was completely predictable. Among other things, he pointed to the core nature of the Taliban, the group's repressive spirit and its links to terrorist organisations.

The former senior US military official also called the US policy towards the war in Afghanistan flawed and said that the US strategy was incomprehensible in light of the realities in Afghanistan.

"Specifically, I want to point out the distinction that the Obama administration said that the Taliban is not the main problem, but al-Qaeda is the main problem," McMaster said.

He also said that drawing a clear line between al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations was an illusion, and that this illusion is still held by a number of US officials in the country's intelligence agencies.

The former US National Security Advisor also questioned the process of Doha peace talks between the United States and the Taliban, saying that these talks discredited Ashraf Ghani's government.

McMaster also accused the Trump administration of "colluding with the Taliban," which gave the group concessions, including halting airstrikes on the Taliban.

The Doha Agreement was signed during Trump's presidency and brokered by Zalmay Khalilzad, his special envoy for Afghanistan, in February 2020. According to US officials, this agreement paved the way for the fall of the previous Afghan government.

The former US national security adviser said, "In my opinion, the situation in Afghanistan and the collapse of the security forces were self-inflicted. It was based on an illusion, based on a self-inflicted story to justify the withdrawal from this country."

McMaster called the Taliban's resistance indigenous, rather than perceived as part of a jihadist-Salafi group, and the "useful and effective role of Pakistan" as part of these illusions.

He described the Doha peace agreement as a document of American surrender that was implemented by Biden head to heart. According to him, Biden did not have so much faith in any of the Trump administration's agreements except the Doha agreement.