The US-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan is a hopeful opportunity to end the US occupation of Afghanistan after 19 years. Persistent concerns, however, are that secret annexes to the deal could exist that would make the deal less palatable for the Taliban rank-and-file.
While Pentagon officials claimed to have no information on that, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed on Sunday that there are indeed two “classified” secret annexes to the deal, and that the American public won’t get to know what those are.
Pompeo didn’t give any indication what those annexes are, but sought to defend them in general terms, saying they were “fully transparent” secrets that Congress would get a chance to see. He contrasted that to secret annexes to the Iran nuclear deal, which he claimed the Americans in general never got to see.
The major concern is that one of the annexes would allow the US to keep ground troops in Afghanistan, a non-starter for most Taliban and which, if confirmed would probably spark more fighting. It’s possible the annexes don’t include that, and are something else. The fact that they are secret, and classified, however, suggests that both the US and Taliban leadership very much prefer the public not know about them.
Based on recent events, I’d say one of those secrets was: go ahead and take the rest of the country. We’re done. You win, we surrender.
I hope so!
Shame it couldn’t have happened oh, 17 or 18 years ago. Or ten. Five.
Everything about the war in Afghanistan has been secret, from the real reason why we invaded to the present reality, billions and billions of profits for the CIA from running heroin to Europe and the USA. Expecting the real perps of 9/11 to suddenly come clean and say Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with it, that we’re really there for the opium… Sorry, folks, that’s simply not going to happen. Move along. Nothing to see here.
“He contrasted that to secret annexes to the Iran nuclear deal, which he claimed the Americans in general never got to see.”
Which means what? That these secret annexes are legit because of that? God, I wish he’d stop breathing.
How does that even work? The general public is now unable to judge the compliance or non-compliance of the two parties. Trust us, they are violating the secret part of the agreement? This is no agreement at all. Still hope the troops come home
How else can you maintain “permanent war for permanent profits?” That is the new slogan for the State Department by the way.
One guarantees perpetual cultivation rights for all the opium poppies in the country to the CIA and its minions. Guaranteed.
Everything about the war in Afghanistan has been secret, from the real reason why we invaded to the present reality, billions and billions in profits for the CIA from running heroin to Europe and the USA. Expecting the real perps of 9/11 to suddenly come clean and say Osama bin Laden had nothing to do with it, that we’re really there for the opium… Sorry, folks, that’s simply not going to happen. Move along. Nothing more to see here.
9-11 certainly wasn’t about heroin. Heroin was just a huge bonus, and why Afghanistan was targeted. Non-stop war against all the nations in the middle east on behalf of Israel, was the real reason behind 9-11.
As I said in my recent article, what’s in a written document doesn’t matter to the Taliban rank-and-file and most other Afghans. (The country has 60% to 70% illiteracy rate – even higher among Taliban) and very little media outside of Kabul,) The only thing that matters are the facts on the ground. Either all foreign troops are gone within the next 6-to-12 months or not not, If not, the insurgency against the “infidel” occupiers will resume and continue until all foreign troops are gone. Someone asked me how the Taliban gets weapons. They are supplied by Pashtuns (ethnicity of Taliban) in the Pakistani ISI and military. Since the start of the insurgency in 2005-06, Pakistan govm’t has allowed the indigenous Pashtun tribes in the Af/Pak border regions to provide the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan with financial, logistical, military including direct combat support and as well as a “safe haven.” This is why the war was never winnable — and never will be.
Who would expect the smarmy U.S. to do anything in a clean straightforward way..??