Does this man look familar? He should. The man pictured meeting with Pompeo in 2020 is Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. He was a founder of the Taliban, which led a repressive regime that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and provided sanctuary to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Trump's Afghanistan agreement included the his release and the release of 5000 of his loyal soldiers from prison.
Pompeo and his department made no secret about negotiating with Baradar. Using his government account, Pompeo tweeted a photograph from one of their meetings on Sept. 12, 2020, and the State Department issued a press release on the meeting, saying "Secretary Pompeo urged the Taliban to seize this opportunity to forge a political settlement and reach a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire." (The photograph in the Instagram post appears to be of a different session between the two men, on Nov. 21, 2020.)
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