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Thread: U.S., Taliban reach deal for 7-day reduction in violence

  1. #1

    U.S., Taliban reach deal for 7-day reduction in violence

    It's a small step but hopefully would lead to lasting peace deal and bringing of US troops back home. Iran war/forever wars lobbies may try to stop bringing of all troops from Afgahnsitan home, will be a test of America-First doctrine and leadership.


    U.S., Taliban reach deal for 7-day reduction in violence

    Agreement could be first step toward lasting peace, U.S. officials say

    By Ben Wolfgang The Washington Times - Thursday, February 13, 2020

    The U.S. appears on the verge of finally securing a peace agreement in Afghanistan, top Trump administration officials said Thursday, as they announced a short-term pact with the Taliban that calls for a seven-day reduction in violence across the country to clear the way for intensive direct talks.
    The breakthrough comes 18 months after U.S. officials began backroom negotiations with the radical Islamist group in an effort to wind down the longest military campaign in American history and bring home more than 12,000 U.S. troops still in the country. But the announcement also comes with major questions, chiefly whether the Taliban is fully willing or able to control its various splinter groups, break decisively with jihadi groups such as al Qaeda, and make good on a promise to reduce violence.

    U.S. officials were careful Thursday not to describe the seven-day test period as a full-fledged cease-fire, suggesting that even they are skeptical that the Taliban and its affiliates will go a full week without perpetrating attacks on American, NATO or Afghan military targets.

    washingtontimes.com/news/2020/feb/13/us-taliban-reach-deal-7-day-reduction-violence/




    Related

    Fort Drum soldier dies in Afghanistan

    By FOX 5 NY Staff
    Feb 13, 2020

    article
    Spc. Branden Tyme Kimball, a Fort Drum-based soldier, died in AfghanistanNEW YORK - A soldier from Fort Drum, in northern New York, has died in Afghanistan.
    Spc. Branden Tyme Kimball, 21, died at Bagram Airfield in a non-combat related incident on Feb. 12, 2020, the Department of Defense announced, which did not release the exact nature of the incident.
    Kimball was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, based out of Fort Drum. He served as an aircraft structural repairer, according to Col. Darrell Doremus, the commander of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade.
    "As we mourn the loss of one of our own, our thoughts and prayers are with the people that knew [him] best: his family, friends, and the soldiers he worked with each and every day," Doremus said in a statement on Facebook. "Our hearts reach out to those that will grieve for him today, tomorrow, and long into the future."
    New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed flags on state government buildings to be flown at half-staff on Friday in Kimball's honor.
    fox10phoenix.com/news/fort-drum-soldier-dies-in-afghanistan


    2 U.S. Service Members Killed, 6 Wounded In Afghanistan Attack
    February 9, 2020
    npr.org/2020/02/09/804268218/2-u-s-service-members-killed-6-wounded-in-afghanistan-attack

    US Government Contractor Kidnapped in Afghanistan
    Feb 5, 2020



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  3. #2
    Still have no confidence that we'll be leaving anytime soon.
    "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration is minding my own business."

    Calvin Coolidge

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Globalist View Post
    Still have no confidence that we'll be leaving anytime soon.
    I think the deep state will screw it up. False flag of some sort.
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    This is getting silly.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It started silly.
    T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men

    "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." - Plato

    We Are Running Out of Time - Mini Me

    Quote Originally Posted by Philhelm
    I part ways with "libertarianism" when it transitions from ideology grounded in logic into self-defeating autism for the sake of ideological purity.

  5. #4
    That seem to violatee 7 day peace deal:

    Afghanistan: airstrike kills eight after US hails breakthrough in Taliban talks

    Victims believed to be civilians while Trump said on Thursday there was a ‘good chance’ of agreement on reduction of US troops

    Reuters in Kabul
    Fri 14 Feb 2020 11.53 EST

    An armored vehicle patrols near the site where two US soldiers were killed in Shirzad district of Nangarhar province on 9 February. On Friday a vehicle carrying civilians was targeted in an airstrike in the province. Photograph: PARWIZ/Reuters

    An airstrike in Afghanistan has killed at least eight people – all believed to be civilians, residents said – hours after the US announced a breakthrough in peace talks with the Taliban.
    Donald Trump said on Thursday there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement with the Taliban on a reduction of US troops in Afghanistan.
    US dropped record number of bombs on Afghanistan last year

    The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said an important breakthrough had been made in peace talks with the Taliban in recent days, and the defence secretary, Mark Esper, said they had negotiated a proposal for a week-long reduction in violence.
    But on Friday a vehicle carrying civilians was targeted in an airstrike in the eastern province of Nangarhar, according to residents, who added that among the eight killed was a child. Taliban insurgents have a strong presence in the region.

    theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/14/afghanistan-airstrike-deaths-us-taliban-peace-talks

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by nobody's_hero View Post
    I think the deep state will screw it up. False flag of some sort.
    That usually seems to be the case. Everytime Trump says he wants to leave some disaster immediately happens.
    Last edited by Anti Globalist; 02-15-2020 at 12:16 PM.
    "Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration is minding my own business."

    Calvin Coolidge

  7. #6
    The Taliban should not trust the likes of Pompeo. How can they? I certainly wouldn't. The Taliban want to negotiate with Trump directly at Camp David but Trump called it off last year after they killed a soldier.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Warlord View Post
    The Taliban should not trust the likes of Pompeo. How can they? I certainly wouldn't. The Taliban want to negotiate with Trump directly at Camp David but Trump called it off last year after they killed a soldier.
    Trump should just get our troops out of afghanistan. I'm not a Fan of talking with Radical Islamists like the Taliban.

  9. #8
    The Taliban have not announced that they have agreed to anything. Only one week. And not a cease- fire but a promise of "less violence". And the Afghan government is not part of any talks. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper says there is no date to start the "reduction in violence".

    DOD is talking about wanting to reduce troops to 8,600 (from current 12,000) but not leave entirely.

    Trump cancelled the last agreement to pause hostilities.



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Globalist View Post
    That usually seems to be the case. Everytime Trump says he wants to leave some disaster immediately happens.
    There is no spoon.

  12. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Anti Globalist View Post
    That usually seems to be the case. Everytime Trump says he wants to leave some disaster immediately happens.
    Sadly I think even if someone like Ron Paul had made it into the white house, they'd be cooking up false flags to try to embarrass or discredit him if he brought the troops home.

    Rand actually mentioned something to that effect in the senate hearing on the Afghan papers. One reason you can't get anyone in congress to take responsibility is because they don't want to be blamed if something bad happens. Thus we're trapped in this 19 year war with no end.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Ron would have brought them home on day 1.
    Last edited by nobody's_hero; 02-15-2020 at 02:38 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by timosman View Post
    This is getting silly.
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    It started silly.
    T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men

    "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." - Plato

    We Are Running Out of Time - Mini Me

    Quote Originally Posted by Philhelm
    I part ways with "libertarianism" when it transitions from ideology grounded in logic into self-defeating autism for the sake of ideological purity.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    The Taliban have not announced that they have agreed to anything. Only one week. And not a cease- fire but a promise of "less violence". And the Afghan government is not part of any talks. US Defence Secretary Mark Esper says there is no date to start the "reduction in violence".

    DOD is talking about wanting to reduce troops to 8,600 (from current 12,000) but not leave entirely.

    Trump cancelled the last agreement to pause hostilities.
    They are going to leave entirely, the reduction to 8,600 is just the first phase and may happen even without a deal.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  14. #12

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by enhanced_deficit View Post
    EM.

    Source?
    I've already posted it many times:

    Sources had told Reuters a U.S.-Taliban peace deal could be signed this month, a move that would pave the way for a withdrawal from Afghanistan of some 13,000 U.S. troops and thousands of other NATO personnel, 18 years after a U.S.-led coalition invaded following the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/u-taliban-neg...143826808.html

    That Taliban official added that the withdrawal of foreign troops would start gradually and would be phased over 18 months.

    More at: https://apnews.com/fa41245d47d48332b10c8aeadcd6cb73

    According to the AP, the end goal if this new deal sticks would "initiate the peace negotiations and the withdrawal of U.S. troops".
    The AP describes the conditional precursor as follows:
    The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban had committed to a halt in roadside and suicide bombings as well as rocket attacks. The official said the U.S. would monitor the truce and determine if there were any violations.

    More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitic...e-5000-taliban

    The offer is seen as an opportunity to open a window to an eventual peace deal that would allow the United States to bring home its estimated 13,000 troops and end the 18-year war in Afghanistan, America's longest conflict.
    The cease-fire offer was handed to Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's envoy for talks with the insurgents, late Wednesday in Qatar, a Gulf Arab country where the Taliban maintain a political office.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/taliban-hande...091102299.html

    There are more.

    Stop listening to zippy.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  16. #14
    Let me know when it is Zero,, including Contractors and Spooks.
    United States military deployments. The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world, with approximately 170,000 of its active-duty personnel serving outside the United States and its territories.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  17. #15
    Defense Secretary says start of reduction in violence period in Afghanistan 'is a moving date'

    By Ryan Browne, CNN
    Sat February 15, 2020
    US-Taliban propose to reduce violence in Afghanistan 00:33

    (CNN)Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Saturday said the US has not yet fully set a date for when it will begin a period of reduction in violence negotiated with the Taliban.

    "That is a moving date because we are still doing consultations if you will ... yesterday Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo and I met with (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani ... so I can't give you a hard date right now," Esper told reporters in Munich, Germany, before leaving to return to the US.

    Esper said the US will need to make some decisions after the agreement on the violence, which is expected to last about seven days, ends.
    cnn.com/2020/02/15/politics/esper-violence-afghanistan-taliban/index.html

    So 7 day peace deal start date is a moving date.



    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    I've already posted it many times:

    Sources had told Reuters a U.S.-Taliban peace deal could be signed this month, a move that would pave the way for a withdrawal from Afghanistan of some 13,000 U.S. troops and thousands of other NATO personnel, 18 years after a U.S.-led coalition invaded following the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

    More at: https://news.yahoo.com/u-taliban-neg...143826808.html

    That Taliban official added that the withdrawal of foreign troops would start gradually and would be phased over 18 months.

    More at: https://apnews.com/fa41245d47d48332b10c8aeadcd6cb73

    ..

    So your certitude is based on press releases including some sourced to Taliban and unnamed sources.

    I hope this turns out to be true very soon but I can't see how anyone can be so ceratin in making such categorical statements when there is plenty track record of similar past promises that turned out to be false. Also current POTUS had called then POTUS Obama 'stupid' for announcing military exit plans in advance to the enemy. Granted there is 2020 election factor that is providing an extra impetus here but still there are other factors too.

  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by enhanced_deficit View Post

    So your certitude is based on press releases including some sourced to Taliban and unnamed sources.

    I hope this turns out to be true very soon but I can't see how anyone can be so ceratin in making such categorical statements when there is plenty track record of similar past promises that turned out to be false. Also current POTUS had called then POTUS Obama 'stupid' for announcing military exit plans in advance to the enemy. Granted there is 2020 election factor that is providing an extra impetus here but still there are other factors too.
    I told you there are more:

    Trump also said that the US will continue to reduce its troop commitment to the region, from 12,000 now to about 8,600, but would like to go lower without impacting operational duties. “We can go much further than that, but we’ll have it all covered,” Trump said. [That is without a deal, they will all leave with a deal]

    Speaking to the US troops, Trump reiterated that they’re working for a peace deal in Afghanistan. “Rest assured that my administration will always be committed to annihilating terrorists wherever they appear,” he said, adding that he looked forward to the day “when we can bring each and every one of you home and safe to your family, and that day is coming and coming very soon.”

    More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitic...ban-talks-have
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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  20. #17

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    They are going to leave entirely, the reduction to 8,600 is just the first phase and may happen even without a deal.
    We will be leaving Syria any day now. Trump said we would be out in 30 days. In December 2018. Only thing he is pulling out of is a hooker.

  22. #19

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    Let me know when it is Zero,, including Contractors and Spooks.
    LOL

    That will be never.

    Donald is doing s fine job [for the MIC] ...



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