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FRANCES MARTEL: Under predecessor Donald Trump, Washington brokered a deal with the Taliban that would have seen the American military presence in the country, which turned 20 years old this year, end on May 1, 2021. In exchange, the Taliban promised not to attack American troops and to cut ties with international jihadist organizations like al-Qaeda, whose attacks on America on September 11, 2001, prompted the Afghan War. Instead, Biden broke the deal, extending the military presence initially into September before cutting it back to August.
Taliban officials took Bidenโs disavowal of the agreement as a license to begin a campaign of conquest nationwide