In the early days of Trump’s election campaign, the opponents of the caretaker government, including the Resistance Front, the Freedom Front, and other exiled leaders, were immersed in Trump’s election slogans and were daydreaming about the day after his victory.
During this period, they held numerous meetings and sessions and made many requests to the potential Trump administration. These notorious figures hoped that with the change of government in the United States, the country’s policy towards Afghanistan would also change, and financial and military support for the virtual opposition fronts against the Islamic Emirate would increase.
The leaders of these movements attempted to establish relations with politicians close to Trump to secure a position in the future U.S. policies regarding Afghanistan. Some of them even traveled to the United States and held informal meetings with former officials and influential Republican figures.
However, over time and as Trump’s positions became clearer, many of these hopes faded, and with Trump’s continued silence on Afghan issues, all the sinister plans of these fugitives were thwarted.
The statements of Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, about offering a hefty reward for the senior leaders of the Taliban due to the detention of American prisoners in Afghanistan, once again revived hope in the dark hearts of the opponents of the caretaker government. They thought that a conflict might arise between the Taliban and the U.S.
Rubio wrote on his official account on the “X” network: “I recently informed that the Taliban are holding more American hostages than reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately set a very large reward for their senior leaders; perhaps even larger than the one set for bin Laden.”
However, in recent days, with the first visit of an official American delegation to Afghanistan accompanied by Adam Boehler, Trump’s special envoy for prisoners, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, and the opening of a window for dialogue between the two sides, the true position of the American president regarding the Islamic Emirate, was revealed. As a result, it became clear even to the fugitives of the Republic that Trump has chosen the path of engagement and negotiation with the Taliban.
In this meeting, Adam Boehler, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for prisoners affairs, considered the progress in the release of prisoners between the two countries as an effective step towards building trust. He also praised the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s efforts in combating drugs and ensuring security.
Boehler emphasized the continuation of bilateral talks and deemed strengthening relations through negotiation as vital. He added that the historical relations between Afghanistan and the U.S. have always been accompanied by challenges, but the main focus now should be on the future.
The visit of this high-ranking American delegation to Afghanistan alone caused disappointment among the notorious fugitives of the Republic, but the final nail in the coffin of the opponents of the caretaker government was driven when the Deputy Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, in a press conference referring to this visit, stated that the United States would engage with the Taliban to protect its national interests.
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