Senior White House advisers want to expand the CIA’s presence in Afghanistan to prevent the resurgence of ISIS or al Qaeda when troops begin to withdraw from the country, The New York Times reports. The proposal reportedly includes the creation of CIA-backed militia forces to serve as part of a counterterrorism force as U.S. troops prepare to leave. However, the proposal has reportedly been met with caution by CIA director Gina Haspel, who has raised doubts as to whether militias would be effective without the backing of the military. The proposal may also cause problems for U.S. peace talks with the Taliban, which has insisted that the CIA must leave along with international military forces. The top U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said this weekend that the two sides were on “the threshold of an agreement” after the latest round of talks.
