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Old 09-02-2019, 07:59 AM
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Question U.S. to pull troops from 5 Afghan bases in 135 days after Taliban deal passes

U.S. to pull troops from 5 Afghan bases in 135 days after Taliban deal passes
By: TRTWORL - 9-2-18 (4-min ago)
RE: https://www.trtworld.com/asia/us-to-...l-passes-29461

Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading efforts to forge a deal with the Taliban, made the announcement after meeting Afghanistan's President Ghani who asked the US envoy to share the draft agreement between the US and Taliban with all Afghan leaders.

Photo link: https://cdni0.trtworld.com/w960/h540...7425312096.JPG
President Ashraf Ghani meets with US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Kabul, Afghanistan. September 2, 2019. (Reuters)

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday told the US envoy for Afghanistan to share details of a draft deal between the US and Taliban with all Afghan leaders, the president's spokesman said.

The US special representative for Afghanistan showed Ghani the draft of an agreement between the US and Taliban expected to clear the way for a phased US troop withdrawal, officials said.

The US military will pull its troops from five bases in Afghanistan if the Taliban honour their end of a proposed deal, Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading negotiations between the two foes, said on Monday.

"We have agreed that if the conditions proceed according to the agreement, we will leave within 135 days five bases in which we are present now," Zalmay Khalilzad told Tolo News, according to an excerpt of an interview the TV station published on Twitter.

Khalilzad was speaking in Dari. Tolo said the full interview would be broadcast later Monday.

Khalilzad, the Afghan-born US diplomat who has completed nine rounds of talks with Taliban representatives, is meeting Afghan leaders in Kabul this week to build a consensus before the deal is signed.

The government will need to "study and assess" details of the draft deal, Ghani's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters.

Khalilzad has met with Ghani twice in the last two days, he said.

The agreement is expected to include a staggered withdrawal of US forces from their longest-ever war in exchange for a Taliban commitment that they will not allow Afghanistan to be used by militants to plot attacks on the US and its allies.

Ghani's government has been shut out of the talks as the militants refuse to recognise it, dismissing it as a US puppet.

But as part of the deal, the Taliban are expected to make a commitment to open power-sharing talks with the US-backed government and work towards a ceasefire.

Ghani will consider the draft and share his views on it with Khalilzad within two days, sources with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters.

'We are at the threshold of an agreement'

Khalilzad said on the weekend final agreement was close.

"We are at the threshold of an agreement that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honourable and sustainable peace and a unified, sovereign Afghanistan that does not threaten the US, its allies, or any other country," he said in a Twitter post.

The talks have progressed against a backdrop of relentless violence.

The Taliban attacked northern Afghanistan over the weekend, killing members of the Afghan security forces and civilians.

Air strikes conducted by Afghan forces in response have led to civilian casualties. Dozens of militants have also been killed, Afghan officials said.

The United States has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Over 100 Taliban killed in northern Afghanistan - govt

Afghan security forces have killed more than 100 Taliban militants in the country's northern province of Baghlan, an official confirmed on Monday.

Ongoing clashes have blocked the main highway leading to the capital Kabul as Taliban militants are on the run from Puli Khumri city, said Feroz Bashari, director of the government media and information centre, in a series of tweets.

"102 Taliban fighters have been killed, 59 wounded and 27 held captive during ANDSF air raids and ground ops. 8 civilians have been martyred and 20 wounded. Puli Khumri city is clear now. The enemies are on the run. Enough forces on the ground," he added.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made similar claims of killing scores of security forces here.

Taliban and Afghan forces have engaged in fresh clashes amid ongoing talks and ahead of next month's presidential elections, which the insurgents oppose.

Earlier this week, at least 81 people were killed as the Afghan army repulsed a Taliban attack in Baghlan's neighbouring Kunduz city.

US presence

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and ousted its Taliban leaders after they refused to hand over members of the Al Qaeda terror group behind the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

US President Donald Trump has long called for an end to US involvement in Afghanistan, writing on Twitter seven years ago that the war was "a complete waste" and six years ago that "we should leave Afghanistan immediately."

Since becoming president in January 2017, he has repeatedly said he could end the Afghanistan war quickly if he didn't mind killing millions of people, a claim he repeated in the interview with Fox News radio.

But there are concerns among Afghan officials and US national security aides about a US withdrawal, with fears Afghanistan could be plunged into a new civil war that could herald a return of Taliban rule and allow international militants, including Daesh, to find a refuge.
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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  #2  
Old 09-02-2019, 08:33 AM
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Arrow 2nd report: To Start Afghan Withdrawal, U.S. Would Pull 5,400 Troops in 135 Days

2nd report: To Start Afghan Withdrawal, U.S. Would Pull 5,400 Troops in 135 Days
BY: Mujib Mashal - ASIA Pacific - 9-2-19
RE: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/02/w...n-taliban.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States will pull 5,400 troops from Afghanistan and leave five military bases in 20 weeks, the American special envoy told Afghan leaders on Monday, to initiate a gradual withdrawal from the country as part of an agreement being finalized with the Taliban.

The American envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has led nearly a year of talks with the Taliban, told an Afghan news channel in Kabul that the United States had reached an agreement “in principle” with the Afghan insurgents, but he cautioned that final approval rested with President Trump.

“In principle, on paper, yes we have reached an agreement — that it is done,” Mr. Khalilzad told the Afghan channel ToloNews. “But it is not final until the president of the United States also agrees to it.”

The initial troop withdrawal and base closures would take place within 135 days after the deal goes into effect, and Afghan leaders aware of Mr. Khalilzad’s discussions in Kabul said the most likely sticking point for Mr. Trump would be the timeline under which the rest of the American troops would leave Afghanistan.

Mr. Khalilzad has not shared those details, but Western officials have previously suggested the timeline for the full withdrawal of roughly 14,000 American troops would probably be 16 months, if the Taliban meet certain conditions.

The deal is intended to immediately reduce violence in several provinces where the American troops would start to leave, though the exact nature of that reduction — whether it would essentially be an expanded cease-fire — was not clear. Mr. Khalilzad is also said to have told Afghan leaders that, as part of the agreement, the United States would reserve the right to assist Afghan forces should they be attacked by the Taliban.

The details on the timing of the first American withdrawal are the first concrete elements of the tightly guarded agreement with the Taliban to emerge publicly.

A deal with the Taliban, if announced, could be the beginning of an end to the nearly two decades of American military presence in Afghanistan, which began with the attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The war has cost the lives of tens of thousands of Afghans and more than 3,500 American and coalition soldiers.

But a deal between the Taliban and the United States is only a first step of what will remain a complicated peace process, opening the path for the insurgents to negotiate the political future of the country with other Afghans.

Mr. Khalilzad, who arrived in Kabul on Sunday after marathon talks with the insurgents in Qatar, has provided full details on the agreement to President Ashraf Ghani, according to the president’s spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi. The Afghan president has been skeptical of the talks with the Taliban, which have so far excluded his government.

Mr. Sediqqi said at a news conference on Monday that the American envoy had met twice with Mr. Ghani since arriving in Kabul over the weekend. The Afghan president had asked for time to study the American agreement.

Afghan officials have provided conflicting details about whether Mr. Ghani was given a copy of the agreement, or details from it were shared with him.

As American diplomats and Taliban officials have neared a deal in their negotiations, violence has intensified in Afghanistan. The Taliban have launched assaults on two northern Afghan cities in two days.

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Personal note: It's amazing that one minute we are in - then the next were out - and then back again over and over. Many of these guys have accumulated many Flight Miles. I'm not a betting man but on this issue - we have seen this ongoing Afghan peace issue fail over and over again. I hope the US and the other's over there know just what the hell they are doing. You would think by now (after so many years of fighting) they would want this over - once and for all.

Personally my gut say's the Taliban will stir the pot (over & over) just to frustrate both parties. As for me I'd let them go back and pound sand for the next 50 years. They are not trust worthy and we sure hell know they will not stop their actions. They are waiting for us to pull out (once again) so that they can again start their crap once more - why? I think its just because they want to frustrate all parities and to keep their ideology in focus.

Boats

Boats
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Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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