Foreign troops to quit Afghanistan in 18 months under draft deal: Taliban sources

Reuters ^ | 26 Jan 2019 | Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Jibran Ahmad, Rupam Jain

[blueplum]

KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Taliban officials said U.S. negotiators on Saturday agreed on a draft peace pact setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months, potentially ending the United States’ longest war. The details of the draft were given to Reuters by Taliban sources …{snip} U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday wrote on Twitter that he had received “encouraging news” from Khalilzad about the talks. “The U.S. is serious about pursuing peace, preventing #Afghanistan from continuing to be a space for international terrorism & bringing forces home,” Pompeo tweeted. He did not give a timetable for the potential withdrawal of U.S. forces. A Taliban statement issued later also noted progress on troop withdrawal and other issues but said more negotiations and internal consultations were required. “The policy of the Islamic Emirate during talks was very clear — until the issue of withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is agreed upon, progress in ...

[blueplum]

6 minute read. Same old same old? They want troops out before they have a diplomatic dinner, we want that diplomatic dinner well before the troops are out.

[thoughtomator]

Let’s just pray we don’t end up paying reparations for this one.

[Cowboy Bob]

I just don't want any "refugees" coming to the US.

[Pinkbell]

You can’t reach a peace agreement with the Taliban. They have murdered 45,000 Afghans over the past few years. They are terrorists themselves. Can you trust a word they say? There’s no reason the full weight of the U.S. military and NATO couldn’t have eliminated them years ago if we had enough people and equipment.

[Zhang Fei]

[Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last week that 45,000 members of the country’s security forces had been killed since he took office in 2014.]

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If this is true, the Afghan security forces are displaying an impressive degree of fight. While not nearly as high as ARVN casualties, it’s not to be sniffed at. It’s double the total number of Colombian military and police dead in 50 years of civil war. The optempo in Afghanistan is much lower then Vietnam, but a rate of ~200 friendly military and police dead a week is not nothing.

[pepsionice]

The only stability that is possible...is to allow the warlords to have their ‘valley’ or territory, and let them put the heat on the Taliban. To suggest that it can ever be a full-up country with national leadership....is a joke.

[Leaning Right]

Thanks to George W. Bush, we will see this scene once again. This time it will be in Kabul.

[Feckless]

Our Doctrine in the Middle East should be"

If you F with us or Israel we bomb the crap out of you. We don't rebuild anything, you don't get in the US for any reason.

If you F with us or Israel again we bomb the crap out of you again. We don't rebuild anything, you don't get in the US for any reason.

They want to live in the 7th Century, we have Time machines (B-52's) that we can dial back to cave dweller.

[momincombatboots]

Well apparently our leadership disagrees. Not enough weapons or people, What numbers of weapons or people do you need? Numbers are not as important as the will to fight to win. ROE.. etc.

[henkster]

We should have done that on 9/12/01. Instead we wasted thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars. And Afghanistan is no better for it.

[NorseViking]

With recent dynamics Taliban aren’t even the worst guys in the area.

[onedoug]

Why would we negotiate with these vermin?

[AmusedBystander]

Good face-saving way out of that sh!thole.