The United States and the Taliban came to a historic agreement on Saturday, February 29, 2020, with the main objective of scaling back America’s longest conflict.
The United States and the Taliban signed a historic deal Saturday aimed at winding down America’s longest war.
Under the watch of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban’s political chief, Abdul Ghani Baradar, penned a deal in Doha, Qatar, to initiate a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
The Taliban, in exchange, promises to not allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven.
Despite the monumental agreement, the road to peace in Afghanistan will not be a straight path due to intra-Afghan talks. This factor could make the entire deal collapse.
“This is how we will ensure that Afghanistan never again serves as a base for international terrorists,” Pompeo said before the deal was signed.
“We’re just at the beginning. Furthering the cause of peace will require serious work and sacrifice by all sides,” he added. “This agreement will mean nothing and today’s good feelings will not last if we don’t take concrete actions on commitments and promises that have been made.”
The United States and the Taliban have been in conflict in Afghanistan right after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that al Qaeda operatives under the protection of the Taliban carried out.
President Trump campaigned on America First principles that would put an end to the endless wars abroad.
Reaching a peace deal with the Taliban is a top foreign policy priority for him during his 2020 reelection bid.
Almost immediately, neoconservative trolls like John Bolton called out this agreement.
On Twitter, he stated “Signing this agreement with Taliban is an unacceptable risk to America’s civilian population. This is an Obama-style deal. Legitimizing Taliban sends the wrong signal to ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists, and to America’s enemies generally.”
Trump should trust his instincts and completely ignore the commentary coming from his failed National Security Adviser.
