President Donald Trump has officially announced that peace talks with the Taliban have renewed, months after an impasse had occurred shortly before a historic summit at Camp David was scheduled to commence.
“We’re working on an agreement now with the Taliban. Let’s see what happens,” Trump said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
The Taliban recently freed two American University of Afghanistan professors who had been kidnapped as apart of a prisoner swap. Trump also indicated that he believes this progress will lead to a ceasefire in the nation.
Trump’s announcement contradicts the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who recently said that the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan would last for much longer.
“That mission is not yet complete. In order for that mission to be successful the government of Afghanistan, the Afghan security forces, are going to have to be able to sustain their own internal security to prevent terrorists using their territory to attack other countries, especially the United States,” said U.S. Army General Mark Milley earlier this month, noting that U.S. forces will remain in Afghanistan for at least “several more years.”
Trump’s rhetoric has never been congruent with the views of his militaristic advisers. He has come out strongly against endless wars in the Middle East, particularly in the past few months.
“We don’t have to fight these endless wars. We’re bringing it back home. That’s what I won on. And some people, whether you call it the military industrial complex, or beyond that, they’d like me to stay. One of the problems I have and one of, for instance with the witch hunt, you have people that want me to stay. They want me to fight forever. They do very well fighting. That’s what they want to do. Fight. A lot of companies want to fight because they make their weapons based on fighting, not based on peace and they take care of a lot of people,” Trump said at a press conference in October.
“We’re 7,000 miles away. I campaigned on bringing our soldiers back home and that’s what I’m doing. That includes other places, too, many other places. Statutorily it takes a period of time. Diplomatically, it takes a period of time. But you know, we’re in many countries, many, many countries. I’m embarrassed to tell you how many, I know the exact number, but I’m embarrassed to say it because it’s so foolish,” Trump added.
President Trump called off Afghanistan peace talks in September, after the Taliban set off a bomb that was responsible for killing a U.S. soldier shortly before they were scheduled to take place.
Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019
….only made it worse! If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019
This new round of peace talks will hopefully go better than the last, now that the Taliban knows that President Trump will not tolerate any of their shenanigans.
