White House Defends Negotiating with Taliban Terrorists to Get Americans Out of Afghanistan

The White House on Wednesday defended their negotiations with the Taliban to ensure Americans can continue to evacuate Afghanistan beyond the August 31 deadline for troop withdrawal.

When asked by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy if it was still the policy of the Biden administration not to negotiate with terrorists, White House press secretary Jen Psaki replied, “Of course it is Peter, but I would also say that there’s a reality that the Taliban is currently controlling large swaths of Afghanistan. That is a reality on the ground.”

The Biden administration continues to negotiate with the Taliban over the date to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and safely evacuate Americans — even though Biden repeats he does not trust them.

“Right now our focus and our priority is getting American citizens evacuated and our Afghan partners evacuated,” she continued.

The Taliban continues to use brutal, vicious, terrorist tactics to achieve their political goals, even though they are not officially designated as a terrorist group by the United States.

Psaki boasted that the Biden administration had made “a great deal of progress” on evacuating Americans as a result of the negotiations with the Taliban.

She also denied that the Biden administration provided the Taliban anything of value during their negotiations.

“This is not a quid pro quo,” she said. “We have laid out clearly what our expectations are about moving American citizens and our Afghan partners and allies out of the country, and that’s what we’re working to deliver on.”

Secretary of State Tony Blinken also defended negotiating with the Taliban.

“The Taliban, whether we like it or not, is largely in control of the country, certainly in control of the city of Kabul and it’s been important to work with them to try to facilitate and ensure the departure of those who want to leave,” he said.

Blinken also signaled his willingness to continue negotiating with the Taliban in the future if they kept their word.

“In the first instance, if it makes good on its commitments to allow people who want to leave Afghanistan to leave, that’s a government we can work with,” Blinken said, adding that the United States would consider Afghanistan under the Taliban a “pariah” if they did not keep their word.