With President Donald Trump expected to strike a deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, American legislators are expressing their concern for the deal that seems too good to be true, considering the Islamist group’s past record of violence and backing out of peace deals.
Former U.S. Army Special Forces Lt. Colonel and Florida Congressman Michael Waltz (R) said that the current deal the president is considering is “a bad deal” because he does not believe the Taliban will adhere to it.
Appearing on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” Rep. Waltz expressed is a concern and lack of support for the proposed deal with the Taliban.
“I have no problem with entering into a [peace] deal but so far, I don’t like this deal. I think this is a bad deal,” Waltz said. “The Taliban has basically given us a bunch of promises. They promised to enter into a ceasefire, yet they’re still bombing children in Kabul. They promised to talk to the Afghan government and they haven’t done that yet. Most importantly, they’ve promised to keep Al Qaeda and ISIS at bay and even if you believe that promise – which I don’t – how do they have the capability that thousands of U.S. troops and a 300,000 Afghan man army have struggled [with] for the last 18 years?”
Waltz dealt with Taliban and al-Qaeda forces during his tours in Afghanistan, so his reservations about the peace deal are warranted.
The deal in question calls for the Taliban to begin to negotiate with the U.S.-backed Afghan government, as well renounced the terror group al-Qaeda and commit to a ceasefire with the government.
If the deal goes through, Trump would draw down Americans troops from 14,000 to roughly 9,000.
The president is expected to sign off on the plan in the coming days
