WASHINGTON, August 25 (DNA): US Senator Lindsey Graham has once again
warned that American pulling troops out of Afghanistan would lead to
“another 9/11”, saying that America cannot “outsource” its national
security to the Taliban.

Graham issued a similar warning ahead of US President Donald Trump
meeting with his security advisors last month where they discussed
issues around a possible peace deal with the Taliban – the militant
group which is seeking the withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan
in exchange for ceasefire and intra-Afghan negotiations.

“If we left tomorrow, the Taliban cannot be trusted to take care of ISIS
[Daesh] and al-Qaeda,” Graham said in an interview with Fox News.

“They don’t have the capability. So when you ask our intelligence
community…what would happen to America if we withdrew all of our forces.
They tell us without any hesitation it would lead to another 9/11 in a
matter of time,” Mr. Graham said in the interview.

This comes as the ninth round of the negotiations between the US and the
Taliban on Saturday completed its third day with progress on a full
withdrawal of foreign troops within 15 to 20 months as well as
counterterrorism assurances from the Taliban side, sources familiar with
the talks said.

The sources said the two sides will sign the peace deal within the next
few days which will be followed by intra-Afghan negotiations.

As part of a peace deal, the number of US forces will reduce to 5,000
from the current 14,000, sources said. The troops will be withdrawn from
five American bases, which according to President Ghani, they are “small
bases” and the reduction will not impact the situation of Afghanistan.

A former member of the Taliban said last week that the agreement between
the US and the Taliban will be finalized within the next few days as the
ninth round of the negotiations began in Doha on Thursday.

Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as Taliban’s ambassador for Pakistan when
the group ruled the country in the late 1990s, told TOLOnews on Friday,
August 23, that the deputy leader of the group, Mullah Abdul Ghani
Baradar will sign the peace agreement with the United States.

Zaeef said the US negotiators want to mention in the agreement that the
Taliban will not have any relations with terrorist groups after the
peace agreement.

The two sides in Doha are expected to discuss ways to implement the
peace agreement. A Taliban spokesman said that the US forces top
commander Gen. Scott Miller was also present on the first day of the
talks in Doha.

Zaeef said the US and the Taliban have agreed on a full withdrawal of
foreign forces in 15 to 24 months and on counterterrorism assurances. DNA