Trump promised that he would do it. Now, he’s cut a deal with the Taliban that he will use to claim that he’s fulfilled his promise. Don’t fall for the hype.
The deal Trump made with the Taliban will bring U.S. forces down — but only to the approximate level that existed at the end of the Obama administration.
He’s essentially agreed only to reverse the buildup that he had ordered over the last three years.
Further reductions are said to be dependent on the Taliban making a deal with the existing government. But the Afghani government already objects to the agreement that Trump made. It doesn’t want to face the Taliban without U.S. soldiers.
After nearly two decades, it has been unable to create a legitimate government and a coherent military that can consolidate its position.
If we wait for the Afghan government to agree for U.S. soldiers to leave, the forever war will continue, well, forever.
Trump wants credit for ending the war — and fulfilling his campaign promise — without ending it. He wants to get out, but he doesn’t want to be blamed for losing.
What’s needed is a clear commitment to get out — not dependent on what the Afghani government or the Taliban do. Trump has failed to produce that, violating the campaign pledge he made to the American people.
In recent days, Keane has also appeared on Fox News and spoke to POLITICO about his concerns regarding the Afghan peace deal, which calls for U.S. forces to begin withdrawing immediately from Afghanistan. Under the terms of the agreement, some 5,000 troops will leave within 135 days.
“What we are being told by people in the Pentagon is that this is a conditions-based withdrawal, but the agreement does not identify those conditions,” he told POLITICO, also noting concerns about protection for civil liberties and human rights. “It’s all aspirational.”
One Republican member of Congress who’s also a military veteran said he had “significant misgivings” about the agreement. “This seems like a pretty crummy deal,” he said. “If this were an Obama deal, we would be crushing him for it. It feels like a retreat. It feels like a concession.”
In mid-February, as talks with the Taliban were nearing completion, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked a direct question by Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski: Would the new truce commit the Afghan government, which wasn’t party to the negotiations, to releasing Taliban prisoners?
It would not, Pompeo responded during the back-and-forth at the Munich Security Conference.
But in the end, the deal did. Not only that, but the Taliban managed to extract a commitment from the U.S. side—without consulting the Afghan government—to force Kabul to release “up to” 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for only 1,000 captives from the Afghan national forces.
The disproportionate release was to have taken place by March 10, which was also supposed to be the start of the intra-Afghan peace talks that the American side insists are central to the agreement.
Now that eleventh-hour U.S. concession threatens to blow up the peace talks, which are stalled.
On Wednesday the Taliban rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s offer to release 1,500 prisoners ahead of talks, saying they wanted all 5,000 freed before negotiations could start.
To some critics of the U.S.-Taliban deal, like Malinowski, the concession was emblematic of a deeply flawed agreement that could ultimately cede Afghanistan back to the Taliban after 18 years of immense American expense and bloodshed—a defeat that could be a model for anti-American insurgencies around the world.
“You could not go further in delegitimizing the Afghan government,” former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker told Foreign Policy. “To agree on behalf of the government of Afghanistan for early prisoner release and not to consult with the government Is further derogation of their sovereignty.
One thing you do not do is put 5,000 fighters back in the battle before you’ve even started a [peace] negotiation.”
Donald Trump did a good thing? Yep signing a peace deal with the Taliban without ensuring peace between the Taliban and Afghan government can be seen as a good thing unless you’re the Afghan government. Just ask the Syrian Kurds that got abandoned cause of a ‘good’ deal Trump made with Turkey.
The Taliban treaty didn’t hold either. Also, I think it’s depressing that Scott is so beaten down he’s desperate for at least a single nice thing from our government to prove Trump should stay in power.
He’s pulling troops out of Afghanistan and already the Taliban are going back on the agreement they signed. What a wasted use of American casualties if this is all their lives bought. Thank a Republican. /s
1. Afghanistan was a losing proposition from day one. The moment we chose to keep troops in place instead of just wipining out the Taliban we were screwed. Bush couldn’t “win”. Obama couldn’t win. Trump can’t win. No POTUS can possibly “win” there without putting 1 million troops on the ground and literally decimating the population. We would have to kill a huge percentage of the adult males, completely destroy their culture, purge Islam from the land and spend 3 generations building a new culture.
2. It doesn’t matter what Trump does. No matter how he extracts the US from Afghanistan it will be criticized from all sides. It is impossible to remove our troops and expect anything other than a Taliban resurgence. It won’t matter who the POTUS is when the last troops come out. It will have been a total waste of blood and treasure. If you want to blame anyone, blame Bush. Obama inherited the nightmare and passed it on to Trump. If Clinton had won we would be haranguing her, regardless of her actions.
jmworacle over 4 years ago
As Sean Hannity said: “Donald Trump can find the cure for cancer and still be criticized.”
ikini Premium Member over 4 years ago
End it? Unlikely. Get the U.S. out? Maybe.
Silly Season over 4 years ago
Trump promised that he would do it. Now, he’s cut a deal with the Taliban that he will use to claim that he’s fulfilled his promise. Don’t fall for the hype.
The deal Trump made with the Taliban will bring U.S. forces down — but only to the approximate level that existed at the end of the Obama administration.
He’s essentially agreed only to reverse the buildup that he had ordered over the last three years.
Further reductions are said to be dependent on the Taliban making a deal with the existing government. But the Afghani government already objects to the agreement that Trump made. It doesn’t want to face the Taliban without U.S. soldiers.
After nearly two decades, it has been unable to create a legitimate government and a coherent military that can consolidate its position.
If we wait for the Afghan government to agree for U.S. soldiers to leave, the forever war will continue, well, forever.
Trump wants credit for ending the war — and fulfilling his campaign promise — without ending it. He wants to get out, but he doesn’t want to be blamed for losing.
What’s needed is a clear commitment to get out — not dependent on what the Afghani government or the Taliban do. Trump has failed to produce that, violating the campaign pledge he made to the American people.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/3/2/21161812/jesse-jackson-donald-trump-afghainistan-war-american-troops-taliban-u-s-forces
Silly Season over 4 years ago
In recent days, Keane has also appeared on Fox News and spoke to POLITICO about his concerns regarding the Afghan peace deal, which calls for U.S. forces to begin withdrawing immediately from Afghanistan. Under the terms of the agreement, some 5,000 troops will leave within 135 days.
“What we are being told by people in the Pentagon is that this is a conditions-based withdrawal, but the agreement does not identify those conditions,” he told POLITICO, also noting concerns about protection for civil liberties and human rights. “It’s all aspirational.”
One Republican member of Congress who’s also a military veteran said he had “significant misgivings” about the agreement. “This seems like a pretty crummy deal,” he said. “If this were an Obama deal, we would be crushing him for it. It feels like a retreat. It feels like a concession.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/03/top-allies-trump-forces-afghanistan-119694
Silly Season over 4 years ago
In mid-February, as talks with the Taliban were nearing completion, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked a direct question by Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski: Would the new truce commit the Afghan government, which wasn’t party to the negotiations, to releasing Taliban prisoners?
It would not, Pompeo responded during the back-and-forth at the Munich Security Conference.
But in the end, the deal did. Not only that, but the Taliban managed to extract a commitment from the U.S. side—without consulting the Afghan government—to force Kabul to release “up to” 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for only 1,000 captives from the Afghan national forces.
The disproportionate release was to have taken place by March 10, which was also supposed to be the start of the intra-Afghan peace talks that the American side insists are central to the agreement.
Now that eleventh-hour U.S. concession threatens to blow up the peace talks, which are stalled.
On Wednesday the Taliban rejected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s offer to release 1,500 prisoners ahead of talks, saying they wanted all 5,000 freed before negotiations could start.
To some critics of the U.S.-Taliban deal, like Malinowski, the concession was emblematic of a deeply flawed agreement that could ultimately cede Afghanistan back to the Taliban after 18 years of immense American expense and bloodshed—a defeat that could be a model for anti-American insurgencies around the world.
“You could not go further in delegitimizing the Afghan government,” former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker told Foreign Policy. “To agree on behalf of the government of Afghanistan for early prisoner release and not to consult with the government Is further derogation of their sovereignty.
One thing you do not do is put 5,000 fighters back in the battle before you’ve even started a [peace] negotiation.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/13/trump-cave-taliban-peace-agreement-prisoner-swap/
Darsan54 Premium Member over 4 years ago
“Dump Trump”? That’s just a universal and rational response to this administration.
bxclent Premium Member over 4 years ago
maybe we can start a war on wars it worked so well to stop drugs
Scoutmaster77 over 4 years ago
Just like in Vietnam? I was in the USAF during both of these wars. How is this “peace treaty” different.
ndblackirish97 over 4 years ago
Donald Trump did a good thing? Yep signing a peace deal with the Taliban without ensuring peace between the Taliban and Afghan government can be seen as a good thing unless you’re the Afghan government. Just ask the Syrian Kurds that got abandoned cause of a ‘good’ deal Trump made with Turkey.
Ben Premium Member over 4 years ago
Another Stantis effort to shill for Trump collides on the rocks of reality
theotherther1 over 4 years ago
The Taliban treaty didn’t hold either. Also, I think it’s depressing that Scott is so beaten down he’s desperate for at least a single nice thing from our government to prove Trump should stay in power.
kentmarx36 over 4 years ago
He’s pulling troops out of Afghanistan and already the Taliban are going back on the agreement they signed. What a wasted use of American casualties if this is all their lives bought. Thank a Republican. /s
Andylit Premium Member over 4 years ago
2 points.
1. Afghanistan was a losing proposition from day one. The moment we chose to keep troops in place instead of just wipining out the Taliban we were screwed. Bush couldn’t “win”. Obama couldn’t win. Trump can’t win. No POTUS can possibly “win” there without putting 1 million troops on the ground and literally decimating the population. We would have to kill a huge percentage of the adult males, completely destroy their culture, purge Islam from the land and spend 3 generations building a new culture.
2. It doesn’t matter what Trump does. No matter how he extracts the US from Afghanistan it will be criticized from all sides. It is impossible to remove our troops and expect anything other than a Taliban resurgence. It won’t matter who the POTUS is when the last troops come out. It will have been a total waste of blood and treasure. If you want to blame anyone, blame Bush. Obama inherited the nightmare and passed it on to Trump. If Clinton had won we would be haranguing her, regardless of her actions.