The United States has been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001. Following the dreadful attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City, the goal of the war was to remove the Taliban from power.
The Taliban have been removed from power and the United States is still there fighting. The Afghanistan war was the deadliest in the World in 2018. Negotiations between the United States and the Taliban are happening, and they have agreed to a deal to end the involvement of the USA in the war in Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
Peace deal between the United States and the Taliban
A peace deal has been agreed although the final approval would be from Donald Trump. The deal will guarantee that 5,000 troops will leave within 135 days and the closing of five military bases. No mention was made of when the remaining troops which would be reportedly about 8,000 to 9,000 troops left.
The remaining troops will depend on the level of violence after the first withdrawal. The Taliban has agreed in principle that they will not allow militant groups such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State to create bases in Afghanistan. That was originally the reason why we invaded Afghanistan in the first place.
Zalmay Khalilzad is the main negotiator for the United States.
He claims that this deal is not a cease-fire, just an end to America's involvement in the war. The Taliban and the Afghan leaders would have to discuss the exact details on how they will coexist in the country once American troops leave the area.
Issues with the deal negotiated by the United States
An issue with the deal is the parties involved.
The Taliban refused to sit down with the Afghanistan government. They do not recognize the leadership of the country. The government of Afghanistan was not asked to come and be a part of the negotiations. Zalmay Khalilzad admits that this deal is not about peace. Its sole concern is to end the involvement of the United States.
Some critics claimed that the American withdrawal could lead to a drawn-out civil war in Afghanistan. The Taliban already does not recognize them as legitimate leaders. The likelihood of both sides agreeing to a cease-fire is probably unlikely.
Negotiations are not based upon the future of the country of Afghanistan. No discussions have been made on the control of the country by the different factions in Afghanistan. The Taliban have made gains for the land they control. The future of Afghanistan depends on the agreement between the Afghanistan president and the Taliban.
Announcement of the deal to the Afghanistan peace deal
Zalmay Khalilzad reviewed the document with the Afghanistan government.
He was in the capital of Kabul. The Taliban celebrated by taking responsibility for a car bomb that exploded in a neighborhood in Kabul. This explosion already claimed the lives of five people and at least fifty injured. There will possibly be more injuries and reported casualties because homes have been destroyed and not all people have been accounted for. This does not bode well for peace in the country.
The Taliban has promised less violence if the deal is signed. They are not showing their willingness to stop. They are using violence as a way to speed up the negotiations. A similar explosion happened back in January. This happened when Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul to brief the Afghanistan government on the ongoing negotiations.
The Taliban attack was to discourage Afghans in their support for the Afghanistan government.
The American war has divided the country of Afghanistan. We went there with the sole purpose of removing the Taliban. We stayed afterward to help support the new government.
The United States military has been fighting in Afghanistan for eighteen years. We need to leave the country and not put any more American lives in danger. The issue is that we have lost American lives in a country that we stayed in for too long.
We did not have an exit strategy. We did not have a plan on what the outcome would be of removing a ruling party. American keeps fighting but American needs to end useless and meaningless wars.
We need to protect our country from all enemies, but we need to have a plan. America does not need to rebuild countries and should let the citizens of those nations do that. The time has come to bring the troops home and let the citizens have their country back and do what they want with it.
