U.S. tells Afghanistan it may slash $2B in aid

WASHINGTON — Facing collapse of Afghan peace talks before they even start, the Trump administration has threatened to withhold up to $2 billion in aid unless President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival put aside their political differences and open negotiations with the Taliban.

Rebuking the Afghan officials as “irresponsible” and dishonorable, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo publicly warned that U.S. aid to the central government could be slashed after his emergency visit to Kabul on Monday failed to resolve the dispute between Ghani and his former coalition partner, Abdullah Abdullah.

“Because this leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests, effective immediately, the U.S. government will initiate a review of the scope of our cooperation with Afghanistan,” Pompeo said.

The threat was the sharpest sign yet that the Trump administration is distancing itself from its Afghan ally and moving closer to the Taliban. The longtime U.S. adversary has in effect become a wary partner as President Donald Trump seeks to withdraw thousands of American troops before the November election and end America’s longest war.

U.S. and Taliban forces have largely halted attacks on each other, a key commitment in an agreement that the two sides signed last month in Qatar. Nor has the militant group conducted large scale suicide bombings in Kabul and other urban centers, meeting another U.S. demand.

In return, the Pentagon has started withdrawing the first of its 12,000 troops, aiming to be down to 8,600 by midsummer and to be out entirely in 14 months, a central Taliban demand.

Even as the shaky U.S.Taliban peace has taken hold, Taliban fighters have stepped up attacks on Afghan troops, causing hundreds of casualties at government checkpoints and remote bases around the country.

On Tuesday, Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the U.S. has told Taliban leaders that the group’s attacks are threatening the peace process, and that the U.S. reserved the right to strike back in response to the Taliban offensive.

“I do want to talk about violence. We all know that it’s too high,” Miller said in televised remarks during a meeting in Kabul with Afghan commanders. “We’ve told the Taliban that it’s too high as well, and we tell them that on a daily basis.”

At least 27 Afghan soldiers were killed in a single attack last week when Taliban fighters stormed a military post in the southern province of Zabol. It was one of the biggest attacks since the agreement was signed in Qatar on Feb. 29 in an effort to reduce violence and set the stage for inter-Afghan talks.

The Taliban did not commit to halting attacks on Afghan troops, but it agreed to work toward a cease-fire if talks with Kabul begin. The document includes secret provisions concerning the levels and types of attacks that would prompt U.S. reprisals.