Pompeo says canceled Taliban meeting was attempt at peace, Democrats attack ‘bizarre’ plan

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended President Trump’s secretly planned meeting with Taliban officials as a necessary attempt to put an end to a decades-old war in Afghanistan but said canceling the talks was necessary.

At the same time, Democrats attacked the president over inviting the group’s leaders to Camp David, characterizing the plan as “erratic” and “bizarre.”

Pompeo said the administration is looking for proof that the Taliban will follow through on commitments before going forward with further peace negotiations. 

{mosads}”We’re looking for more than words on paper. We’re looking for real delivered commitment, and the Taliban demonstrated either that they weren’t willing to or couldn’t live up to the commitment they needed to make to reduce violence there,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” 

Trump said he canceled the meeting after the Taliban claimed credit for a deadly attack in Kabul that killed 11 civilians and a U.S. service member last week. Sgt. 1st Class Elis Barreto Ortiz, 34, of Morovis, Puerto Rico, was killed by the car bomb last Thursday.

It was the third attack within a week in Afghanistan. The Taliban also claimed a suicide bombing on Tuesday in Kabul that killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 100.

Democrats criticized Trump’s plan to meet with the leaders at Camp David in the first place. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a 2020 presidential candidate, called it “another example of the president treating foreign policy like some kind of game show.” 

“He didn’t even seem to have an agreement or close to an agreement when he set the summit,” she said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro similarly called Trump’s plan “more of this erratic behavior that people are tired of.”

“This is the worst president when it comes to negotiating, I think, that we’ve had in a very long time. It’s another bizarre episode,” Castro said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 

The Democrats likened it to Trump’s continued summits with North Korea despite the country failing to comply with agreements. 

But the plan, which had not been announced until Trump tweeted it had been canceled, was also met with opposition from within the president’s party. 

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted that the Taliban shouldn’t even be allowed in the country. 

“Never should leaders of a terrorist organization that hasn’t renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country. NEVER. Full stop,” he tweeted.

Never should leaders of a terrorist organization that hasn’t renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country. NEVER. Full stop. https://t.co/pagnRFuFtc

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) September 8, 2019

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) lauded Trump’s decision to cancel the meeting but said the terrorist group shouldn’t “set foot” in Camp David. 

“Camp David is where America’s leaders met to plan our response after al Qaeda, supported by the Taliban, killed 3000 Americans on 9/11. No member of the Taliban should set foot there. Ever. The Taliban still harbors al Qaeda. The President is right to end the talks,” she tweeted Sunday.

Camp David is where America’s leaders met to plan our response after al Qaeda, supported by the Taliban, killed 3000 Americans on 9/11. 

No member of the Taliban should set foot there. Ever. 

The Taliban still harbors al Qaeda.
The President is right to end the talks.

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) September 8, 2019

Pompeo defended the plan, saying the administration has an “obligation to do everything we can” to put an end to the decades-long war killing Americans. 

Last week, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad announced that the Trump administration had reached an agreement “in principle” to withdraw 5,000 troops from the country in about five months in exchange for the peace deal with the Taliban.

Pompeo told NBC that Camp David has a history of peace negotiations, “sometimes with some pretty bad actors.” 

“I can’t help but think that if a Democratic president had talked about having the Taliban come to Camp David to negotiate a peace process that was not already a done deal that you, as a congressman, as a soldier, as a veteran, as a West Point graduate, that you would be rather upset,” CNN host Jake Tapper said to Pompeo.

“I’ve been fully supportive of this effort, the direction that we have taken,” Pompeo responded. 

“Make no mistake about it. We will continue to punish,” he added. “We will continue to protect the American people.”