{"id":18623,"date":"2019-09-05T23:37:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T23:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/05\/taliban-attacks-test-trump-as-he-seeks-to-end-afghan-war\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:52:28","slug":"taliban-attacks-test-trump-as-he-seeks-to-end-afghan-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/05\/taliban-attacks-test-trump-as-he-seeks-to-end-afghan-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban attacks test Trump as he seeks to end Afghan war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Relentless, deadly attacks by the Taliban, including a car bombing Thursday that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/09\/05\/us-romanian-service-members-killed-in-kabul\/\" target=_blank>killed a U.S. service member<\/a>, are testing President Donald Trump\u2019s resolve to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and end what he has called America\u2019s \u201cendless\u201d war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The death of the American \u2014 the fourth U.S. service member killed in the past two weeks in Afghanistan \u2014 could be used to argue that it is long past time to bring U.S. troops home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the Afghan government and others worry that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/03\/taliban-carry-out-kabul-suicide-bombing-even-as-peace-deal-with-us-nears\/\" target=\"_blank\">the attacks during ongoing U.S.-Taliban talks <\/a>are evidence that the insurgent group cannot be trusted to end the violence and renounce international terror groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to make sure we are negotiating a peace, not simply a withdrawal,\u201d House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel said in a letter Thursday to Trump\u2019s peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Engel is demanding that Khalilzad, who has said the U.S. and the Taliban are on the threshold of a peace deal, come to testify before the House committee about the negotiations. The envoy was invited to appear Feb. 26 and April 8, but never responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI do not consider your testimony at this hearing optional,\u201d Engel, a New York Democrat, wrote in the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/04\/talks-still-ongoing-to-end-afghanistan-war-says-defense-secretary-esper\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1170757686.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Talks \u2018still ongoing\u2019 to end Afghanistan war, says Defense Secretary Esper<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he\u2019s not ready to publicly discuss how a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would begin under a peace deal with the Taliban.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Khalizad is now back in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban have a political office, after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/02\/draft-of-us-taliban-deal-shared-with-afghan-leaders\/\" target=_blank>updating the Afghan government <\/a>on the latest developments in the talks. He said earlier this week that the insurgent group and the U.S. had reached a deal \u201cin principle\u201d and all that was still needed was Trump\u2019s signature, but the details of the agreement have not been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A senior U.S. official said it\u2019s not clear how long the envoy will be in Doha or where he will go afterward. It\u2019s possible he could go back to Kabul or he could return to Washington, depending on what happens during discussions over the fine print of the potential deal with the Taliban, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the sensitive negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While details are scant about the deal the administration appears close to approving, the rising violence has rattled Kabul, the capital, and other sites around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPeace with a group that is still killing innocent people is meaningless,\u201d said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/08\/29\/trump-says-8600-us-troops-will-stay-after-afghanistan-withdrawal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4827339.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump says 8,600 US troops will stay after Afghanistan withdrawal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">President Donald Trump said he plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. forces from Afghanistan if, but will keep 8,600 there for the foreseeable future, pending the outcome of U.S. peace talks with the Taliban, which appear to be concluding.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attack Thursday by a Taliban suicide car bombing in Kabul killed the U.S. service member, a Romanian soldier and at least 10 Afghan civilians in a busy diplomatic area that includes the U.S. Embassy. About 42 people were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hours later, the Taliban set off a car bomb outside an Afghan military base in a neighboring province, killing four civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5000\" height=\"3333\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-39170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg 5000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19248316287915.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5000px) 100vw, 5000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Resolute Support forces remove a damaged vehicle after a car bomb explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. A car bomb rocked the Afghan capital on Thursday and smoke rose from a part of eastern Kabul near a neighborhood housing the U.S. Embassy, the NATO Resolute Support mission and other diplomatic missions. (Rahmat Gul\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those attacks followed the disclosure by Amnesty International that Abdul Samad Amiri, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission\u2019s acting director in Ghor province, was kidnapped and killed by the Taliban. And on Monday, the Taliban attacked a foreign compound, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 100, almost all of them local civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When reporters asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday what the Taliban needed to do to show they can be trusted, Esper said it was a matter for negotiators, not for him to discuss in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUntil we see a final agreed-upon document that outlines what that agreement looks like, I\u2019m just going to hold my tongue because what I don\u2019t want to do is get out ahead, or askew, of the sensitive negations,\u201d Esper said while traveling in Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to end U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, where 2,400 American service members have been killed since the U.S. ousted the ruling Taliban regime after the Sept. 11 attacks. As part of any settlement, U.S. officials say they want assurances that the country will not again become a launching point for attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the violence, the administration is likely to continue pushing for an end to U.S. involvement and a withdrawal of American troops, said Jarrett Blanc, the deputy U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2012 to 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would find it odd for Trump \u2014 based on how far this has gone \u2014 for him not to do it,\u201d Blanc said. \u201cMy understanding is that the deal is very, very close to done. I would not be surprised if it\u2019s a matter of days or a matter of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said he doesn\u2019t believe the draft agreement includes a complete Taliban cease-fire, only a pledge to reduce violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has said he wants to withdraw more than 5,000 American troops from Afghanistan and then contemplate further drawdowns. He has not offered a timeline for withdrawing troops, while saying the U.S. will retain a \u201chigh intelligence\u201d presence in Afghanistan going forward. The Pentagon has been developing plans to withdraw as many as half of the 14,000 U.S. troops still there, but the Taliban want all U.S. and NATO forces withdrawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Any U.S.-Taliban deal would open the door to a second phase of all-Afghan negotiations, which could be more difficult. Those talks \u2014 between the Taliban and Afghans both inside and outside the government \u2014 would aim to craft a peaceful future for the country. Complicating the situation is Afghanistan\u2019s presidential election set for Sept. 28. The Taliban have threatened to attack election sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writers Cara Anna in Kabul, Robert Burns in London and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Relentless, deadly attacks by the Taliban, including a car bombing Thursday that killed a U.S. service member, are testing President Donald Trump\u2019s resolve to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and end what he has called America\u2019s \u201cendless\u201d war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":39166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,23,93,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3067],"class_list":["post-18623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"H5ZDV7JY5ZGULAUTP5JBIT4BIA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/05\/taliban-attacks-test-trump-as-he-seeks-to-end-afghan-war\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Taliban attacks test Trump as he seeks to end Afghan war - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Relentless, deadly attacks by the Taliban, including a car bombing Thursday that killed a U.S. service member, are testing President Donald Trump\u2019s resolve to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and end what he has called America\u2019s \u201cendless\u201d war.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taliban attacks test Trump as he seeks to end Afghan war\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Relentless, deadly attacks by the Taliban, including a car 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