There are a number of assumptions that the agreement makes that are problematic. On the one hand, the Afghan government was neither part of the negotiations nor a signatory to the final agreement. Although US Ambassador Zalmay Khaililzad made an effort to keep Afghan President Ashraf Ghani informed and on board, the Afghan government became increasingly alarmed and angry during the talks that it was excluded from discussions about the future of his own country. The fact that the Afghan government or its representatives were not allowed to participate in the negotiations came at the urging of the Taliban, who argued that the current government in Afghanistan was not a legitimate government, but a puppet of the United States. Whether this is true or not can be debated, but the Taliban have prevailed over this issue. Even in the description of al-Qaeda in the agreement, the Taliban refused to accept the word “terrorist.” The language emphasizes the Taliban`s commitment to prevent future attacks, not the regrets of the past. “The decision I had to make as president was either to honor this agreement or to be ready to fight the Taliban again in the middle of the spring fighting season,” Biden said. But Biden can only go that far if he claims the deal imprisoned him. There was an alternative clause: the US could have withdrawn from the deal if afghan peace talks had failed. They did, but Biden chose to stick to it, even though he delayed the full withdrawal from May to September. Intra-Afghan negotiations were due to start on 10 March 2020[7] in Oslo, Norway.

[8] The composition of the Afghan government`s negotiating team has not been determined as the results of the 2019 Afghan presidential elections have been contested. [9] The agreement provided for the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the start of talks, as part of a prisoner exchange for 1,000 government soldiers held by the Taliban. [10] The Doha Agreement also addressed the withdrawal from Afghanistan of “all armed forces of the United States, its allies and coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian forces, private security companies, trainers, consultants, and support services.” The Trump administration agreed to an initial reduction of US troops in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days (i.e. by July 2020), followed by a full withdrawal within 14 months (i.e. by July 1). May 2021), whether the Taliban have kept their commitments. [50] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg promised to reduce the number of NATO troops from about 16,000 to about 12,000. [13] The United States also pledged to close five military bases within 135 days. [10] On March 10, 2020, the United States began withdrawing some soldiers. [20] On June 22, 2020, Afghanistan experienced its “bloodiest week in 19 years,” during which 422 Taliban attacks killed 291 members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) and wounded 550 others. At least 42 civilians, including women and children, were also killed by the Taliban in 18 provinces and 105 others injured.

[48] During the week, the Taliban abducted 60 civilians in the central province of Daykundi. [49] While it is not clear who speaks on behalf of the Afghan government, it is also unclear who speaks on behalf of the Taliban. The Taliban are not a single unified organization, but are made up of various commanders and militias across Afghanistan, many of whom have conflicting ideas about the war and now about the peace agreement. The Taliban leaders who negotiated the peace deal belong to the Taliban leadership group known as Quetta Shura. This group operates from Pakistan and is largely a political and economic organization. The Quetta Shura controls the highly profitable opium and heroin trade that finances the Taliban`s military operations in Afghanistan. The Quetta Shura is ruled by high-ranking Taliban, including Haibutullah Akhundzada, Mohammed Yaqub, Mohammed Omar and Abdul Ghani Baradar. Afghanistan`s last presidential election was held on 28 September, after being postponed for several years. Due to numerous irregularities and protests by various candidates, the results were not announced until February 18, 2020, almost five months after the elections. When the results were finally announced, the Electoral Commission reported that President Ghani received 50.64 percent of the vote, followed by Abdullah Abdullah, who received 39.5 percent of the national vote. The Afghan constitution stipulated that in a multi-candidate election that receives more than 50% of the vote, the candidate is the winner.

But the Taliban have their own leadership problems. The team negotiating the Doha Peace Agreement does not necessarily speak for the Taliban commanders on the ground, who may not be willing or unable to give up the fight and lay down their arms. This leaves the possibility that the fighting will continue even after an agreement in Kabul. She called it “wishful thinking” to believe that the Taliban might be interested in a lasting peace. The resulting deal, she said, is heavily taliban-focused, helped undermine Afghan President Ashraf Ghani — he fled the country on Sunday and is now in the United Arab Emirates — and facilitated the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners without corresponding concessions from the Taliban. On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Afghan Taliban signed a peace agreement in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending the long war in Afghanistan. The deal contains largely the same terms that were agreed in September 2019 but were sunk by President Trump. Essentially, this agreement calls for the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan in exchange for a promise that the Taliban would not allow terrorist groups to operate on Afghan soil.

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