What We Will Do If US Stays A Day Longer Than August 31 In Afghan—Taliban

<p><em>What We Will Do<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> can reports that despite the celebrated diplomatic moves by the Joe Biden-led United States of America government to weigh options in the total evacuation of US troops from Afghanistan&comma; the Taliban insists that August 31 remains August 31 and a day longer will spell doom for the Americans&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;To the Taliban&comma; a day longer than August 31 will translate to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A clear violation” and abuse of grace extended to the US&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The &&num;8220&semi;US must adhere to removing troops from Afghanistan by this date&comma; otherwise&comma; we will be forced to embark on our designed mission&comma;” they averred&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is partly the outcome of the meeting on Monday when the Director of CIA&comma; William J&period; Burns met face-to-face with the top Taliban leader in Kabul&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;CIA&comma; Central Intelligence Agency&comma; is the principal foreign intelligence and counterintelligence agency of the U&period;S&period; government&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This happened even when the US continues airlifting American citizens and its Afghan allies out of Afghanistan by a looming&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Biden administration has been in regular contact with Taliban officials throughout the course of the evacuation process&comma; both on the ground in Afghanistan and in Doha&comma; Qatar&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But the covert meeting&comma; earlier reported by The Washington Post&comma; between Burns and Taliban co-founder and deputy leader <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">Abdul Ghani Baradar<&sol;a> amounts to the highest-level direct exchange of views since the militant group took control of the capital&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The meeting also underscores the view inside the administration that they need a clearer understanding of where the Taliban stands on several issues as the clock ticks towards the August 31 deadline to withdraw troops from the country&comma; the official said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Credible information revealed that the meeting occurred at President Joe Biden&&num;8217&semi;s direction&comma; which reflects the view inside the administration that Burns is the most seasoned and one of the most trusted veteran diplomats on Biden&&num;8217&semi;s team&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Another official called the meeting &&num;8220&semi;an exchange of views on what needs to happen to be done&&num;8221&semi; by August 31&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Meanwhile&comma; the US has evacuated thousands of people from the Kabul airport who are fleeing the country as the Taliban resumes control&period; But the process has been chaotic and deadly&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;While Biden remains confident that the US will complete its mission by August 31&comma; he revealed Sunday that discussions are ongoing about potentially extending the deadline&comma; but the Taliban signaled Monday that they view that date as firm&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Taliban has described August 31 as a &&num;8220&semi;red line&&num;8221&semi; and threatened consequences if the White House moves to delay the US withdrawal&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Meanwhile&comma; Biden is expected to face pressure from foreign allies to extend the timeline&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Reports have it that the US military is advising Biden that he must decide by Tuesday whether to push the deadline beyond August 31&comma; according to a defense official directly familiar with the discussions&period; The President has yet to publicly commit to such a move&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Biden administration has been reliant on the Taliban to cooperate with the evacuation efforts&comma; and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the US is in talks with the Taliban &&num;8220&semi;on a daily basis&&num;8221&semi; through political and security channels&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;After the Taliban retook control of Kabul&comma; Baradar&comma; who heads the group&&num;8217&semi;s political committee&comma; had returned to Afghanistan last week after having been out of the country for 20 years&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Taliban&&num;8217&semi;s chief negotiator&comma; Baradar and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among the witnesses for the US and Taliban&&num;8217&semi;s signing of a historic agreement last year&comma; which had set in motion the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;