NATO defense chiefs to discuss staying in Afghanistan a bit longer

NATO defense ministers on Thursday will consider setting aside a May 1 deadline for international troops to leave Afghanistan, the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

The withdrawal date was set last year in a peace deal between the Taliban and the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Critics warned that such a speedy pullout could further fuel violence in the conflict-ravaged country.

“While no ally wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, we will not leave before the time is right,” Stoltenberg said during a news conference Monday. “So, ministers will continue to assess the situation on the ground and monitor developments very closely.”

Stoltenberg repeatedly declined to speculate on what ministers would decide, but earlier this month a study group appointed by the U.S. Congress issued a report urging “an immediate diplomatic effort to extend the current May 2021 withdrawal date.”

“There needs to be a significant revision of U.S. policy,” the bipartisan study group wrote. “The most important revision is to ensure that a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops is based not on an inflexible timeline but on all parties fulfilling their commitments, including the Taliban making good on its promises to contain terrorist groups and reduce violence against the Afghan people, and making compromises to achieve a political settlement.”

Missing the deadline stands to infuriate the Taliban, but the long-term consequences are uncertain.

In recent weeks, Taliban leaders have called on the Biden administration to honor the terms of the peace deal, but Stoltenberg said Monday that the levels of violence in Afghanistan, including Taliban attacks on civilians, were potentially still too high to justify the complete withdrawal of allied forces.

“We need to find the right balance between making sure that we do not stay longer than necessary but at the same time that we don’t leave too early,” Stoltenberg said. “Because we should not end up in a situation where Afghanistan again becomes a platform, a safe haven for international terrorists, which is actually the reason why we went in there.”

U.S. troops now comprise a minority of the roughly 10,000 allied forces still in Afghanistan. Stoltenberg had previously suggested that European allies would have a major say in the withdrawal. But following Biden’s inauguration, it seems Washington remains the primary decision-maker.  

NATO troops have been in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years, having initially entered as part of a combat mission in response to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the U.S.

“NATO has significantly adjusted our presence as part of the peace process,” Stoltenberg said Monday. “However, peace talks remain fragile and the level of violence remains unacceptably high including Taliban attacks on civilians. The Taliban must reduce violence, negotiate in good faith and live up to their commitment to stop cooperating with international terrorist groups.”

In November, Stoltenberg had warned Trump against too quickly pulling out U.S. troops.

The defense ministers’ discussion on Afghanistan is expected to take place Thursday along with an expected decision to expand NATO’s training and support mission in Iraq, where the alliance has worked to counter the so-called Islamic State.

On Wednesday, the first day of their videoconference summit, the defense ministers will talk about an array of other issues, including plans for a leaders’ meeting in Brussels later this year and Stoltenberg’s preliminary proposals in response to a report on “NATO 2030.” That report was prepared by a reflection group pulled together after French President Emmanuel Macron complained in late 2019 that NATO was experiencing “brain death.”

Stoltenberg said he would propose that allies increase spending on their “core deterrence and defense activities.”

“This would support allied deployments in our battle groups in the eastern part of our alliance, air policing, maritime deployments and exercises,” he said. “Spending more together would demonstrate the strength of our commitment to Article 5, our promise to defend each other.”

He also said he would press for increased political consultations among allies, including on economic issues with security implications. Chief among Macron’s “brain death” complaints appeared to be that some allies, notably Turkey, seemed out of step in dealings with Russia, and in the approach to conflicts such as the civil wars in Syria and in Libya.

Stoltenberg added that the alliance should consider the security implications of climate change and do its part to protect the planet. “I will therefore propose that NATO should set the gold standard for reducing emissions from the military sector and contribute to the goal of net-zero carbon emissions and conduct an annual assessment of how climate change might impact our troops and deployments,” he said.

The secretary-general said the push would continue for allies to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense — a favorite topic of Trump — but overall he had nothing to say about the former president and instead praised President Joe Biden’s commitment to NATO.

“Our summit later this year will be a unique opportunity to start a new chapter for transatlantic relations,” Stoltenberg said.