Taliban And U.S. Make An Agreement After Decades Of War

After over a year in the making, there is now an agreement to begin the end of the United States’ longest war in history, but there is still a very long way to go. Recently, the U.S. signed a deal with the Afghanistan Taliban in Doha, Qatar that will be the beginning of the end of this war. The war has lasted almost two entire decades and has killed more than ten thousand people, commencing after the 911 attacks. According to Mashal from the New York Times, “The chief American envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, signed on behalf of the United States. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a current Taliban deputy and a figure from the original Taliban government, signed for the Taliban. The two shook hands as the room erupted in cheers.”

The agreement includes a comprehensive schedule for the final stages of withdrawing the 12,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan. In the first phase, there will be a removal of 5,000 troops in 135 days and the final removal of the troops will commence in the next 14 months, but will heavily depend on the Taliban keeping their end of the deal, which is to prevent future attacks. However, it is still not a final and experts say it has the potential to not go to plan. This agreement is more than the beginning of the end of the war, as it is hoped that it will eventually be an end to the Taliban regime. Additionally, it is important to note that the Taliban refused to acknowledge Al Qaeda as terrorists in the agreement, focusing on what it can do rather than reliving the past.

The insurgents formally promised to keep international terrorist networks from using Afghanistan as the home base for attacks. The U.S. has pledged to work slowly towards the goal of removing Taliban leaders from their blacklist and the UN’s as well. The U.S. have also pledged to start the long process of the release of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government and the 1,000 members of government security forces on the Taliban side by the 10th of March, which is before the direct negotiations are expected to commence.

The most difficult negotiations are still yet to come, with the future of Afghan being decided by the Afghan government and the Taliban leaders. The outcome of this will eventually decide how the agreement with the U.S. will play out. However, experts have suggested that the negotiations have the potential to form a power-sharing government between the two.

Trump recently stated that “I’ll be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not-too-distant future, and will be very much hoping that they will be doing what they say, they will be killing terrorists. They will be killing some very bad people. They will keep that fight going.”

However, not everyone has the same view as Trump. Secretary Mike Pompeo, who was present in the signing suggests a more cautious view in regards to the future of the Taliban. “The agreement will mean nothing — and today’s good feelings will not last — if we don’t take concrete action on commitments stated and promises made.”

The Taliban have seen this as a victory, in the sense of bringing the world’s most powerful military to the humbling point of withdrawal. The Taliban’s multimedia chief described it as a historic landmark for proclaiming “the defeat of the arrogance of the White House in the face of the white turban.” However, Mr. Pompeo warned that “I know there will be a temptation to declare victory, but victory for Afghans can only be achieved if they can live in peace and prosper.”

The war began in 2001, commencing with the deployment of cruise missiles and a warplane to Afghanistan on the 7th of October and large numbers of U.S. soldiers hitting Afghan soil on the 19th of October. The U.S. tried to turn Afganistan into a democracy and to improve the lives and futures of women, children and other minorities. But, the future of America’s work will remain unknown if the Taliban become powerful again. Currently, Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries due to its real lack in foreign investment, corrupt government and the Taliban power. Their economy still very heavily relies on America and international aid.

So far, the War has come at an incredibly hefty price – costing the U.S. two trillion dollars (USD) and killing more than 3,500 American and coalition troops. It has also killed tens of thousands of Afghan troops.

The U.S. and the Taliban, in signing the agreement, both pledged not to attack each other, but the biggest matter of worry still lies. Whether or not the Taliban will hold their attacks on Afghanistan Security Forces is still in question and a huge point of worry for everyone.

“I really believe the Taliban wants to do something to show that we’re not all wasting time,” President Trump said in Washington hours after the agreement had been signed. “If bad things happen, we’ll go back.”

Isabella Patrick

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