Having successfully negotiated all the way up to the peace deal before withdrawing outright from the process, the US is once again starting discussions with Afghanistan’s Taliban, according to President Trump.
Trump offered no details, saying the US is “working on an agreement now,” citing the recent prisoner swap with the Taliban, which saw two professors exchanged for three Haqqani Network leaders.
The reports are that the “unofficial” negotiations are ongoing in Doha, and that US officials are consulting with the Afghan government on the entire process. This is a substantial change, as the US appears to have given the Afghan government little input the first time around.
Afghanistan’s High Peace Council is urging the US to work on a ceasefire first, believing that this would be a big step for the peace process. This was never agreed upon last time, but with agreements practically reached in the first talks, there is a lot of existing work that could be copied over into a new deal.
Nobody trusts the USA to “negotiate” anything.
Upon the expected departure of Pompeo from Secretary of State, there is hope that Trump will have nobody left in the Cabinet who can talk him out of a full withdrawal, or sabotage a deal as before. Trump may plan to remove the last troops out of Afghanistan in the next year, to ensure his re-election.
Oh there are plenty of neocons to replace him…
No different than the rerun that is happening with North Korea. Must need to please some faction of the base so it’s time to trot out more bullsh*t.