{"slug":"trump-doha-agreement-afghanistan-taliban","title":"Doha Agreement: Trump Negotiated Afghanistan Withdrawal With Taliban, Excluded Afghan Government","date":"2020-02-29","lastUpdated":"2021-08-31","description":"On February 29, 2020, the Trump administration signed the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, committing the United States to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan within 14 months. The agreement was negotiated bilaterally between the U.S. and the Taliban — the Afghan government was excluded from the talks. The agreement released 5,000 Taliban prisoners, imposed no Taliban ceasefire requirement, and granted the Taliban political legitimacy. Military analysts and the Afghan government warned the agreement would accelerate Taliban military advances. The Biden administration inherited the agreement and executed the withdrawal; Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021.","summary":"The Trump administration's Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad negotiated the Doha Agreement with Taliban representatives over 18 months. The Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani was excluded from the negotiations — the Taliban refused to negotiate with the Ghani government and the U.S. accepted this condition. The agreement required the U.S. to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including senior military commanders, in exchange for the Taliban releasing 1,000 Afghan security forces. The Taliban made no commitment to halt offensive operations against Afghan forces. The U.S. military assessment was that the Taliban were not fulfilling the agreement's anti-terrorism requirements before the withdrawal was completed.","category":"foreign-policy","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/world/asia/us-taliban-deal.html","title":"U.S. Signs Peace Deal With Taliban in Push to End 18-Year War in Afghanistan","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-and-taliban-sign-peace-deal-in-doha/2020/02/29/9d282d74-5a3f-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html","title":"U.S. and Taliban sign peace deal in Doha","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2021-07-30qr.pdf","title":"SIGAR Quarterly Report — Taliban violations and Afghanistan security deterioration","publisher":"Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/taliban-doha-agreement-afghanistan-trump","title":"Trump's Afghanistan deal with Taliban — what it means","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Afghanistan","Taliban","Doha","first-term","foreign-policy","withdrawal"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2018-07-01","title":"U.S.-Taliban talks begin","summary":"The Trump administration begins direct negotiations with Taliban representatives in Qatar. The Afghan government is excluded at Taliban's insistence. Secretary of State Pompeo designates Zalmay Khalilzad as special envoy."},{"date":"2019-09-07","title":"Trump cancels Camp David summit at last minute via tweet","summary":"Trump announces via tweet that he had planned a secret meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David — and was canceling it after a Taliban attack killed a U.S. soldier. The announcement surprises both the military and diplomatic establishment."},{"date":"2020-02-29","title":"Doha Agreement signed","summary":"The U.S. and Taliban sign the Doha Agreement. The Afghan government is not a signatory. The agreement commits the U.S. to full withdrawal within 14 months and requires the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners."},{"date":"2021-04-14","title":"Biden announces May 1 deadline extension","summary":"Biden announces the U.S. will extend the withdrawal deadline to September 11, 2021, then revises to August 31. He acknowledges inheriting the Doha Agreement with most conditions already in place."},{"date":"2021-08-15","title":"Kabul falls to Taliban","summary":"The Taliban takes Kabul in approximately 11 days after the final U.S. drawdown begins. The Afghan government collapses; President Ghani flees the country. The speed of collapse exceeds U.S. intelligence estimates."},{"date":"2021-08-31","title":"Final U.S. withdrawal complete","summary":"The last U.S. military flight departs Kabul airport. The U.S. has been in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years. The Taliban retakes full control of the country."}],"location":{"name":"Doha, Qatar / Afghanistan","lat":25.2854,"lng":51.531},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Afghan civilians, women, and minorities who faced Taliban rule after withdrawal; Afghan security forces abandoned without adequate support; women and girls denied education and employment under Taliban governance","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; authorized and praised the Doha Agreement","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Zalmay Khalilzad","role":"U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation; negotiated the agreement","institution":"U.S. State Department"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2021-08-31","summary":"Updated with Kabul fall and final withdrawal."}]}}