Biden signals a tougher line with the Taliban

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is signaling a tougher line with the Taliban than his predecessor, with top officials warning that a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in May could be delayed if the insurgents fail to live up to their promises.

A flurry of statements and comments from the White House, State Department and Pentagon this week left no doubt that the Biden administration had a skeptical view of a shaky peace process launched by former President Donald Trump and the Taliban's willingness to sever ties with Al Qaeda and other extremists.

The administration, which said it was carrying out a review of the situation in Afghanistan, faces a series of difficult choices that will force officials to weigh the risk of a Taliban takeover. Any delay in a U.S. troop pull-out could trigger an escalation of violence and prompt the Taliban to abandon peace negotiations with its adversaries in the Kabul government, former U.S. officials and military officers say.

Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Friday that the administration is "taking a hard look at the extent to which the Taliban are in fact complying" with provisions of a U.S.-Taliban deal signed last year.

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The February 2020 agreement called for the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops by May 2021 in return for the Taliban breaking with terrorist groups, sharply reducing violence and entering into peace negotiations with the Afghan government.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Thursday the Taliban were failing to abide by their pledges under the deal, which was supposed to open the door to a peace settlement between the insurgents and the U.S.-backed Kabul government.

"Without them meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks against the Afghan National Security Forces, it's very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement," said Kirby. "But we're still committed to that."

In another break with the former administration, Biden's team also has made a point of underscoring the importance of human rights and women's rights in Afghanistan. The Taliban, known for their draconian rule and repression of Afghan women during their reign from 1996-2001, made no pledges on the status of women in their agreement with the United States.

In his call with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Biden's top diplomat, Antony Blinken, said any peace settlement needed to preserve "the progress made over the last 20 years with regard to human rights, civil liberties, and the role of women in Afghan society."

The shift in tone was welcomed by the Afghan government, which had complained it was shut out of the negotiations between Washington and the Taliban. President Ashraf Ghani said on Friday he was heartened by the new team's approach and what he called its "early, focused, systematic attention."

Although the Biden administration indicated it was prepared to put the brakes on withdrawal plans if necessary, it has chosen to retain Trump's peace envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, at least for the time being.

Khalilzad, the architect of the U.S.-Taliban agreement, has strained relations with the Ghani government. But President Ghani suggested Khalilzad would be working for a new U.S. president, with a more coordinated, predictable approach.

Now Ambassador Khalilzad will be reporting to a very organized decision-making process," Ghani said at a virtual event Friday organized by the Aspen Institute think tank.

"We have two very different functions. I represent the people of Afghanistan. He is an employee of the U.S. government," the Afghan president told Carol Lee of NBC News, who hosted the session.

Ghani added that he and the Afghan-born Khalilzad are old classmates and "we go back a long way."

Both men studied at the American University in Beirut and also crossed paths later in the United States.