Afghanistan Peace CampaignLisa Curtis, a former White House official, says Washington should set aside the Doha agreement and pursue new avenues of “conditional engagement” with the Taliban.
Curtis, who was a senior policy advisor in the Trump administration at the time of the Doha agreement signing in February 2020, played a role in U.S. policy towards Afghanistan.
In an interview with Afghanistan International, she described the Doha agreement as “very weak,” arguing that it favored the Taliban.
She stated that the Doha agreement had been “very much in favor of the Taliban,” even refraining from asking the group to sever its ties with terrorist organizations.
According to her, the Doha agreement merely required the Taliban to refrain from allowing terrorists to attack against U.S. interests.
She asserts that this agreement has emboldened the Taliban, labeling it as “very weak.”
Lisa Curtis stated: “On the fourth anniversary of the Doha agreement, I believe it’s time to set it aside and find new ways to engage with the Taliban, conditional engagement that puts pressure on them to respect the rights of women and girls.”
This former White House official emphasized that the Doha agreement did not secure U.S. security interests in Afghanistan and the region, and terrorist threats in Afghanistan have intensified.
Ms. Curtis said that the ISIS-Khorasan branch is a global threat, as well as the resurgence of the Taliban in Pakistan and some Middle Eastern terrorist groups in Afghanistan, are becoming stronger.
This former White House official stated that America is “not safer” after signing the Doha agreement and is not in a better position.
She emphasized that the international community is not taking sufficient actions to hold the Taliban accountable for their behaviors.
The Doha agreement was signed between the U.S. and the Taliban on February 29, 2020.
This agreement was reached after eighteen months of negotiations between the U.S. delegation led by Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban delegation led by Mullah Baradar.