© Provided by Washington Examiner U.S. Central Command Chief Frank McKenzie indicated Monday that the Taliban would have to abruptly change course for the United States to hold to a peace deal signed last February that calls for a full withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1.
"Frankly, I remain concerned about the actions that the Taliban has taken up until this point," the Marine Corps four-star general said during virtual remarks at an event hosted by the Middle East Institute on Monday, his first public comments under the Biden administration.
"The matter is under review," he said while underscoring that he did not want to get ahead of the Biden administration's decision on whether or not to leave the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond the deadline amid escalating violence.
On Wednesday, a congressionally-mandated Afghan Study Group report was released with a recommendation that U.S. troops should stay in the country beyond the deadline to prevent an all-out civil war.
U.S. forces have fought extremists and worked to stabilize Afghanistan for 19 years. In the year since a peace deal was signed in Doha between the U.S. and the Taliban, violence has escalated, and American troops have been key to protecting Afghan government forces.
McKenzie was careful in describing his stance on the Afghanistan peace deal signed with the Taliban last February in Doha, at first reading directly from a statement condemning continued violence.
"I know that the administration has taken a close look at the way forward," he said. "Some key elements of that plan though, require the Taliban to take actions, and so they need to do some things, too, if we're going to go forward."
The Pentagon has been mum as to what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin may discuss regarding Afghanistan with NATO defense ministers in a virtual meeting slated for Feb. 17-18.
Meanwhile, McKenzie acknowledged that he has been consulted about the way forward.
"I've had the opportunity to give inputs," he said. "I know they're giving it a great deal of thought and consideration, and we'll have a way forward here, I think, in the near future."
Iran deterrence
McKenzie also argued Monday for a continued U.S. presence in the Middle East to deter Iran in the face of continued support for terrorist organizations and proxy wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
"The new U.S. administration has signaled it will take a deliberate and thoughtful approach moving forward with its Iran policies," McKenzie said in discussing Iran's destabilizing activity in the region.
"What are we doing to mitigate this instability?" he asked rhetorically.
"Our presence in the region, mostly defensive in nature, has brought us to a period of contested deterrence with Iran," he said, highlighting the proxy war waged by Iran against the U.S. in Iraq. "That presence sends a clear and unambiguous signal of our capabilities and will."
The U.S. ordered the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier out of the Persian Gulf last week but retains some 2,500 troops in Iraq, along with other assets throughout the region.
In excerpts of an interview with CBS that aired Sunday, President Biden appeared to take a hard line on terms for reengaging with Iran.
"No," Biden told CBS interviewer Norah O'Donnell unequivocally when asked if the U.S. would lift sanctions on Iran first to restart negotiations.
The position directly contradicted a promise by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he would not scale back uranium enrichment until the U.S. first lifts sanctions.
While Iran's destabilizing activities in the region were not included in the original JCPOA, defense analysts have called on the U.S. to force Iran to curtail its malign activity as part of a new deal. Iran is believed to have used $100 million in sanctions relief to wreak havoc across the Middle East, funding terrorists and militias in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
Negotiating a broader agreement was not Biden's campaign stance, which simply called on Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 deal it struck with the Obama administration and other Western powers.
McKenzie also highlighted the pressure creating by the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords, which led to the rapprochement of some Arab countries with Israel, a move that experts say serves to isolate Iran.
"The easing of tensions between Israel and other Arab countries provides us with a strategic opportunity to align additional partners against shared threats to stability in the region," he said, noting the addition of Israel to the portfolio of countries he manages. "Iran has choices as well."
Tags: News, National Security, Department of Defense, Pentagon, Iran, Iran sanctions, Iran Nuclear Deal, Middle East, U.S. Central Command, Lloyd Austin, Joe Biden, Israel, War in Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Taliban
Original Author: Abraham Mahshie
Original Location: Taliban's actions will complicate removing all US troops from Afghanistan, Central Command chief warns