What Really Prompted Trump to Call Off Afghan Peace Talks
Updated on September 10, 2019 at 1:15 p.m. ET
Yesterday, Mike Pompeo was all over television, joining so many political shows that one half-expected him to pop up for his next interview in the sportscasters’ booth at a football game. And during each appearance, the U.S. secretary of state told the same story about the presidential tweets that in one minute on Saturday night had terminated, for now, the most serious diplomatic effort ever to end America’s longest war—just three days before the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that precipitated the conflict.
U.S. officials were making unprecedented progress in negotiations with the Taliban, Pompeo . They had pressured the Islamist fundamentalist movement, which had sheltered Osama bin Laden and other 9/11 plotters, to make several momentous commitments: publicly breaking with al-Qaeda, reducing violence in Afghanistan, engaging in dialogue with “their other Afghan brothers and sisters.” So within reach were “peace yesterday.
