Milley: U.S. coordination with Taliban on strikes ‘possible’

WASHINGTON >> Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that it’s “possible” the United States will seek to coordinate with the Taliban on counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan against Islamic State militants or others.

Milley did not elaborate and his comment did not appear to suggest immediate plans to work with the Taliban.

U.S. military commanders coordinated daily with Taliban commanders outside the Kabul airport over the past three weeks to facilitate the evacuation of more than 124,000 people. But that was a matter of convenience for both parties and not necessarily a sign that they will pursue, or even want, a regular relationship in the future.

The U.S. military ousted the Taliban from power in the fall of 2001 and fought against them for the 19 years that followed.

The extent and nature of a U.S.-Taliban relationship, now that the war is over, is one of the key issues to be worked out. The U.S. diplomatic presence in Kabul has been moved to Doha, Qatar. President Joe Biden has noted several times recently that the Taliban are avowed enemies of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, suggesting a shared interest with the United States.

At a Pentagon news conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley called the Taliban “ruthless” saying, “Whether or not they change remains to be seen.” He suggested that the recent cooperative arrangement with the Taliban at Kabul airport was not necessarily a model for the future.

“In war you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do,” Milley said.

Biden has promised further targeting of the IS group in Afghanistan in response to the IS suicide bombing last week at a Kabul airport gate that killed scores of Afghans and 13 American service members.

Saturday, the U.S. military carried out a drone strike in Afghanistan that it said killed two IS planners.

Tuesday, Biden said, “To ISIS-K: We are not done with you yet,” referring to the IS group. Austin sounded at least as skeptical as Milley regarding the possibility that the coordination in recent days at the Kabul airport suggests a future relationship with the Taliban.

“I would not make any leaps of logic to broader issues,” Austin said.