US Lawmakers: Taliban Invitation to Camp David Was a Bad Idea

 

American President Donald Trump¹ cancelled a planned meeting with Taliban leaders and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at Camp David.

Trump said Ghani and the Taliban leaders had been planning to travel to the United States late Saturday.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Trump "made the right decision" to call off peace talks. Pompeo blamed the Taliban for continued attacks in Afghanistan.

Talks lacked congressional support

Lawmakers from both parties said the meeting at the presidential retreat near Washington should never have been planned.

"Camp David is where America's leaders met to plan our response after al Qaeda, supported by the Taliban, killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11," Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney tweeted. "No member of the Taliban should set foot there. Ever," she wrote.

Wednesday, September 11, will be the 18th anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. by terrorist hijackers in which nearly 3,000 people died.

Senator Bob Menendez is the top Democrat² on the Foreign Relations Committee. He criticized the president saying, "It's another example of the Trump administration's foreign policy, which is a high-wire act… not in the strategic…effort of creating peace."

Republican Congressman³ Adam Kinzinger was an Air Force pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before winning a seat in the House of Representatives. He said on Twitter, "Never should leaders of a terrorist organization that hasn't renounced⁴ 9/11 and continue in evil be allowed in our great country. NEVER."

Secretary Pompeo defended Trump's foreign policy, saying Trump's planned meetings at Camp David with the Taliban and Ghani were planned to “further America's national interest." The goal of the meetings was to end the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The President was to have met with each group separately.

Negotiators for the U.S. and the Taliban have held peace talks for almost one year. U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad last week said his team had written a draft agreement. If approved by the president, it would call for 5,000 American soldiers to leave five military bases in Afghanistan within 135 days.

Pompeo said Khalilzad had been told to return to the United States.

The longest war in American history started with U.S. military efforts to destroy al-Qaida terrorist training grounds protected by the Taliban. Al-Qaida launched the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. The hijacked⁵ planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington. The fourth hijacked plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Trump said he decided⁶ to cancel the talks at Camp David after a car bomb in Kabul killed 12 people last week, including a U.S. soldier.

Trump has promised to end U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. But Pompeo said, "We're not going to just walk away, if it's not right for American security interests.”

The Taliban warned that U.S. military forces in Afghanistan "will suffer more than anyone else" from Trump's decision.

The Taliban also said the U.S.'s "casualties and financial losses will increase, and the U.S. role in international political interaction will be discredited⁷ even further."

The war in Afghanistan has continued for almost 18 years. About 2,400 American soldiers have been killed and more than 20,000 wounded in action.

The U.S. now has about 14,000 military members in Afghanistan although Trump has said he will reduce that number sharply.

Because of the cancellation⁸, a peace agreement reached between the U.S. and the Taliban is now in question. The Taliban said it had agreed to hold talks with the Ghani government on September 23.

I’m Caty Weaver⁹.

Words in This Story

response– n.answer

high-wire– n.a rope or wire on which a performer walks and does tricks high up in the air to entertain people especially as part of a circus that is associated with risky¹⁰ behavior

strategic–adj. of or relating to a general plan that is created to achieve a goal in war, politics, etc., usually over a long period of time

draft– adj.not final

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 renounced   

v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃

参考例句：

• We have renounced the use of force to settle our disputes. 我们已再次宣布放弃使用武力来解决争端。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Andrew renounced his claim to the property. 安德鲁放弃了财产的所有权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

8 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

10 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。