Journalist Michael Ames told Hill.TV on Friday that ongoing U.S. negotiations with the Taliban represent President Trump’s “Nixon going to China” moment.
“It’s the only option,” Ames, co-author of “American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan,” told hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.” “Perhaps we needed the Trump administration to do this. It’s sort of Trump’s ‘Nixon going to China’ moment.”
The Trump administration has been trying to work with the Taliban to settle the 17-year-long conflict in Afghanistan and withdraw U.S. troops from the country.
The talks have recently been focused on the issue of troop withdrawal and working to get assurances from the Taliban that their controlled territory won’t be used as a safe haven for extremist groups in the future.
Roughly 14,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, a number the Trump administration is planning to cut in half.
However, the Taliban have insisted on a complete U.S. withdraw in an effort to end what has been dubbed “America’s longest war.”
“Obama was holding negotiations with one Taliban representative completely in secret. They were held in Germany. They were held in Qatar. These are being held out in the open at an upscale resort in Doha [the capital of Qatar],” Ames said.
Asked whether the U.S. was negotiating with terrorists, he replied, “It depends how you define terrorists.”
— Julia Manchester
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