The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters Wednesday that it is \u201cpossible\u201d American forces will coordinate with the Taliban \u2026<\/b>
\nThe Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters Wednesday that it is \u201cpossible\u201d American forces will coordinate with the Taliban on operations against the terrorist group ISIS-K. Milley made the comment \u2014 offering no elaboration \u2014 during a Pentagon briefing alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in response to a question about what communication between US military officials and Taliban leaders during the evacuation of Afghanistan meant for the relationship between the two and \u201cthe possibility of any kind of coordination in counter-terrorism operations against ISIS-K in Afghanistan.\u201d Austin responded first, saying that \u201cwe were working with the Taliban on a very narrow set of issues, and it was just that \u2013 to get as many people out as we possibly could, and so I would not make any leaps of logic to broader issues. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to predict where this will go in the future with respect to the Taliban,\u201d Austin added. Milley initially appeared to be on the same page as Austin, calling the Taliban a \u201cruthless\u201d group and saying that \u201cwhether or not they change remains to be seen.\u201d \u201cAs far as our dealings with them at that airfield [Hamid Karzai International Airport] or in the past year or so, in war, you do what you must in order to reduce risk to mission and force, not what you necessarily want to do,\u201d Milley added. \u201cAny possibility of coordination against ISIS-K with them?\u201d the question came again. \u201cIt\u2019s possible,\u201d Milley answered after a pregnant pause before Austin jumped in. \u201cGoing forward, I would not want to make any predictions,\u201d the defense secretary said. \u201cI would tell you that we\u2019re going to do everything that we can to make sure we remain focused on ISIS-K, understand that network, and at the time of our choosing in the future, hold them accountable for what they\u2019ve done.\u201d During the final chaotic, tragic days of the American military\u2019s 20-year stay in Afghanistan, officials at the Pentagon and State Department repeatedly portrayed the Taliban as an equal partner in the withdrawal that wrapped up Monday. On Aug.20, for example, State Department spokesman Ned Price insisted that the Taliban had ensured the US \u201cthey have no intention of impeding our operations or of standing in the way of those who are seeking passage to the airport\u201d \u2014 despite eyewitness reports that the Islamic fundamentalist group\u2019s fighters were assaulting people who attempted to pass through checkpoints ringing the airport. Over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that Gen. Kenneth \u201cFrank\u201d McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, turned down an offer by the Taliban to secure Kabul \u2014 telling the group\u2019s political leader Abdul Ghani Baradar that the American mission was solely to evacuate American citizens, Afghan allies and others at risk. The result was the surreal image of Taliban fighters and US Marines working hundreds of yards apart as thousands of Afghans surged toward the airport gates each day. At one point, McKenzie described the Taliban\u2019s conduct as \u201cvery pragmatic and very businesslike\u201d in helping to secure the facility, despite the reports of widespread violence. Since the conclusion of the US evacuation from Afghanistan, America\u2019s diplomatic presence in the country has been moved to Doha, Qatar, which has hosted the Taliban\u2019s political leadership for much of the past decade. President Joe Biden has noted several times recently that the Taliban are avowed enemies of ISIS-K, suggesting a shared interest with the United States. In remarks from the White House Tuesday, Biden told the terror group \u2014 whose name refers to the Khorasan Province, its moniker for the territory that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan \u2014 that \u201cwe are not done with you yet.\u201d<\/p>\n