President Trump met Friday with a number of top national security officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and John Bolton. The focus is on the Afghanistan peace deal
US envoy Zalmay Khalilizad has been working for months on this deal, and reports of a possible pact announcement this week were put off with the announcement so both sides could “consult their respective leaderships.“
It wasn’t clear what that meant at the time, but now the indication is that the Khalilzad deal is all set to go, and Friday’s meeting was about the possibility of Trump accepting it, and agreeing to end the war.
If all went well Friday, Khalilzad is expected to head to Doha this weekend to meet with the Taliban delegation. Expectations are that a peace deal would be announced officially around Monday, which is Afghan Independence Day.
A story on this site just hours ago declared that according to military commanders in Afghanistan, there was going to be no decrease in troop levels. (This story is no longer on the site.) Now, Trump is meeting with his troika, the effervescently apocalyptic John Bolton, fellow neocon Pompeo, and Representative Esper (R – Raytheon.) Unless Trump can convince those three rabid dogs of war to start at least symbolically pulling troops to help his chances in 2020, i see no reason why they’d decide to do so.
Of course, if he really wanted to end the wars, or at least look like it, he’d can Bolton for starters.
“Representative Esper (R – Raytheon.)”
Good one.
I wish i had come up with that myself but i cribbed it from an old article i read on cold warrior Sen Scoop Jackson (D-Boeing.)
Let’s never forget the even more hawkish Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Tel Aviv). I don’t know if I coined that one, but I sure used it a lot.
“President Trump will meet Friday with a number of top national security officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and John Bolton. The focus is expected to be the Afghanistan peace deal.”
I’m waiting for the punchline. That was a joke, right?
What are the odds Washington is sincere?
https://indianpunchline.com/central-asian-steppes-mutely-watch-talibans-surge/
Like most organizations, each has their number of bad or insincere actors. Rather than contribute to rumor, I wish the Taliban success in forging ties with Russian, Afghanis, Chinese, Pakistanis, and other legitimate regional players.
I wouldn’t expect billions in US aid in return for Washington initiating this occupation and subsequent death and dismemberment. A new Afghan government shouldn’t accept dollars while every sane world government is doing their level best to de-dollarize. Wouldn’t want those dollars going to US contractors ready and willing to pillage Afghanistan a second time. While I don’t know China’s Xi Xingping, I’m a long distance confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin and I suspect he’ll be a good friend of a new Afghan government and the Taliban.
Best wishes for a new Afghanistan.
Edit: I meant “confidant.”