Was Biden handcuffed by Trump’s Taliban deal in Doha?

By MATTHEW LEE and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his national security team say the Trump administration tied their hands when it came to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The argument that President Donald Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban set the stage for the weekend chaos that unfolded in Kabul has some merit. But it’s far from the full story. Trump’s agreement for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan was conditions-based. As U.S. officials made clear at the time, the failure of intra-Afghan peace talks to reach a negotiated settlement would have nullified the requirement to withdraw. Then again, renegotiating would have been difficult.