THREAD/ Taliban's messaging/ approach to Biden admin's policy review:
-high-level meetings with top US adversaries
-insists foreign troops will be targeted if not gone by 1 May
-repeats accusations of US non-compliance with deal (and insists a delay in withdrawal would be same).
Taliban repeating their view of Doha deal: smoothed the way for US to leave after "unsuccessful" 20-year intervention. A "safe passage" deal.
The more Taliban insist they are meeting deal's conditions, the less need for a "review." Almost as if to pre-argue a US policy shift. /2
But no Western official or international audience is convinced by Taliban claims alone. Even Taliban can't believe that.
Who is Taliban's audience, as they display rigidity on the deal's terms and insist their interpretation is justified? /3
Perhaps Taliban reached a point where offering compromise/ flexibility to US on withdrawal would be perceived as too weak among its own ranks.
Or the interpretation & expectation of a swift return to power was genuine - and everything US did the past year seems like welching. /4
Or, regardless of internal discourse, current Taliban assessment could be that US/NATO will not leave by May deadline.
Since US does not seem to have begun re-negotiating or bargaining on a withdrawal extension, Taliban might feel boxed in by that, obliged to posture. /5