The leaders of the G7 will be meeting virtually at the instigation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Aug. 24 to “discuss continuing our close coordination on Afghanistan policy and evacuating our citizens, the brave Afghans who stood with us over the last two decades, and other vulnerable Afghans,” a White House statement reported yesterday. “They will also discuss plans to provide humanitarian assistance and support for Afghan refugees.”
Johnson is expected to pressure Biden to extend the deadline from Aug. 31 to some later date. President Joe Biden himself reported yesterday that discussions are already underway to extend the deadline. “Our hope is we will not have to extend, but there are discussions,” he said, suggesting the possibility that the Taliban will be consulted.
U.K. Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey confirmed that the U.K. was prepared to urge the Taliban to agree to extend the deadline, regardless of the U.S. decision. “Whether or not the U.S. can be persuaded to stay is a matter for the prime minister tomorrow at the G7 meeting, the conversation with the Taliban will then follow,” he told Sky News, reported the Guardian. “The Taliban will have a choice: they can either seek to engage with the international community … or they can turn around and say: ‘No, there’s no opportunity for an extension.’ This is not just the discussion that happens among G7 leaders tomorrow. It’s a discussion that then happens with the Taliban.”
Reuters reported last night that Johnson will also push for new sanctions on the Taliban. Britain believes the G7 should consider economic sanctions and withhold aid if the Taliban commits human rights abuses and allows its territory to be used as a haven for militants, according to a British government official and a second Western diplomat, both of whom spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. Asked whether he would support Britain’s push for sanctions if the Taliban committed abuses, Biden said, “The answer is yes. It depends on the conduct.”
“It is vital that the international community works together to ensure safe evacuations, prevent a humanitarian crisis and support the Afghan people to secure the gains of the last 20 years,” Johnson said on Twitter on Aug. 22. Sanctions against the Taliban are unlikely to be adopted immediately, one Western diplomat said. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab first raised the possibility of sanctions to pressure the Taliban last week.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has called for Biden’s impeachment, joined with retired neo-con Gen. Jack Keane last week in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in which they practically called for a re-invasion of Afghanistan. “It must be made clear to the Taliban that we are committed to helping those who sacrificed for us and will ensure their safe evacuation,” they write. “We must establish safe corridors not only in Kabul but throughout the country to move those who cannot make it to the capital.” Such a re-invasion would be coherent with British calls to go off the grounds of the Kabul airport to find people to evacuate.
