Critics of US-Taliban deal say militants can't be trusted

“Bounties or not, what we judge the Taliban on is whether they honor the deal,” said Scott Smith, an expert on Afghanistan peace processes with the U.S.

McKenzie said it is an open question whether the Taliban will keep Afghanistan from being the launchpad for attacks on the U.S.

Mike Morell, former CIA acting and deputy director, told the House Homeland Security Committee’s intelligence and counterterrorism panel on June 24 that the Taliban is militarily and politically stronger than at any time since 2001 when the Taliban refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.

“I believe that the Taliban, in its peace negotiations with the United States, have told us what we want to hear in order to encourage us to leave the country,” Morell said.

Thomas Joscelyn, a long time critic of the deal at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the Taliban have repeatedly said al-Qaida has not been in Afghanistan since 2001.

The Defense Department’s latest report on the war said the Taliban has stepped up violence against Afghan forces, but has avoided attacks on U.S.

The report also said U.S.–led counterterrorism operations have degraded al-Qaida, which now poses only a “limited threat” to the U.S.

The Pentagon report said, however, that the Taliban maintain close ties to al-Qaida.

On Thursday, Pompeo hinted, without elaborating, that he’d seen indications that the Taliban are no longer going to let al-Qaida operate in Afghanistan.

However, a May report by the United Nations says al-Qaida is “quietly gaining strength in Afghanistan while continuing to operate with the Taliban under their protection.” The report says 400 to 600 al-Qaida operatives are active in 12 of Afghanistan 34 provinces

report also reported six meetings between al-Qaida and Taliban senior leaders during the past 12 months — while U.S.-Taliban talks were ongoing