US and Taliban Share “Common Purpose” in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: (Web Desk) Gen Frank McKenzie, head of the US Central Command (Centcom), said during a recent briefing that the United States and Taliban now share a “common purpose” in Afghanistan.

According to The Wall Street Journal report, Gen McKenzie said, “We share a common purpose and have been useful to work with each other.”

“As long as we’ve kept that common purpose aligned, they have been useful to work with. They’ve cut some of our security concerns down,” The US Centcom Chief added.

Gen McKenzie said the US forces and the Taliban had an arrangement in which “we also use the Taliban as a tool to protect us as much as possible.”

Another top US magazine Bloomberg reported that after fighting each other for 20 years, the US and Taliban are suddenly finding their interests aligned against a common enemy.

When someone asked President Biden how the US could depend on a long-time adversary, he said: “It is not a matter of trust – it’s a matter of mutual self-interest.”

On the other hand, the Taliban too face a dilemma: “Cooperating with the US to fight ISIS-K could spur a backlash” from within their ranks,” the report added.