Joe Biden
Michael Hughes: The Taliban last week threatened to kill any American troop that remains in Afghanistan beyond the deadline of the peace deal the group struck with the Trump administration. The insurgent group is freely willing to make such a threat because it feels it holds all the cards. As a Taliban commander told a Western military official at the beginning of Trump’s term in office: “You have the watches. We have the time.”
Hence, the news that the U.S.-led coalition is no longer going to abide by the agreement will likely mean the heat of the Afghan cauldron is about to increase more than a few notches. On January 31, Reuters reported, citing top NATO officials, that foreign troops would remain in the country past April in violation of the said U.S.-Taliban withdrawal pact.