U.S. and Taliban representatives (click here) spent months negotiating peace and American withdrawal from Afghanistan. But after canceling meetings in the U.S., President Trump says the talks are dead. Why did they collapse, and what are the prospects for ending the country’s decades of violence and chaos? Judy Woodruff talks to Laurel Miller, former U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan....
I take it the Taliban still haven't made it to the Oval Office for that photo-op and the sweetheart deal, huh?
...Laurel Miller:
They don't have to be dead. It's a question of whether the U.S. has the will to restart the talks.
Some of the statements that have been made by Secretary Pompeo, in particular, have indicated some openness to restarting the talks, and the Taliban has likewise. It's hard to know how to interpret President Trump's latest statements that sound more definitive, given that he has changed his mind on similar issues in the past....
It would seem the talks were restarted from the Trump graveyard (click here). The question no one asks of Pompeo is, "Did you tell Trump to shut up about the peace deal?"
...The scope and prospects of any renewed negotiations remained unclear, and White House officials gave few details beyond Mr. Trump’s sudden revelation. On the flight to Afghanistan, Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, had insisted that the secret trip was “truly about Thanksgiving and supporting the troops” and “nothing about the peace process” with the Taliban....
Did he or didn't he, only Putin knows for sure.
How much is Pompeo and how much is Putin kicking the USA out of the region for mining of it's wealth. (click here)
September 11, 2019
By Samual Ramani
Over the weekend, (click here) the prospects of a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban seemed to fall apart. That is a major setback, since it will likely delay a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and could lead to an escalated Taliban offensive on Afghan government-held territories. But one player—Russia—might benefit.
In an otherwise dark period for U.S.-Russian relations, Afghanistan seemed to have recently emerged as a rare bright spot for bilateral cooperation. After a visit to Moscow in May, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described achieving a “reduction in violence” in Afghanistan as a shared interest of the United States and Russia. Dialogue between U.S. and Russian officials on Afghanistan, which was largely frozen after the collapse of the Northern Distribution Network—a rail network passing through Russia that supplied U.S. forces—in 2015 is now commonplace. Russia had even offered to act as a guarantor for any future U.S.-Taliban peace agreement. Although such a deal now seems to be off the table, Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, stated that he believes U.S.-Taliban peace talks are “suspended” but not “dead,” and he announced Moscow’s plans to consult with the United States on the future of the negotiations....
See, most Americans don't know that Afghanistan is now a proxy war with Russia.
23 May 2018
The Chairman of the Afghan Senate, (click here) Upper House of the Parliament (Wolesi Jirga), Fazal Hadi Muslimyar strongly reacted at the remarks of Zamir Kabulov, the special envoy of President Vladimir Putin.
Calling the remarks of Kabulov as shameful and silly, Muslimyar said he strongly condemns the remarks of Kabulov and called on the ministry of foreign affairs to summon the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan to lodge a strong protest in this regard.
Mulsimyar further added that Russia along with the other countries are interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and support the Taliban to kill the innocent Afghan civilians and destroy the public welfare projects....
...The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has urged for the launch of direct talks between US and Taliban in a bid to end the ongoing violence.
He has warned that the US refusal to talk with the group would lead to persistent war and bloodshed for many years in Afghanistan, according to Bloomberg.
See, most Americans don't know that Afghanistan is now a proxy war with Russia.
23 May 2018
The Chairman of the Afghan Senate, (click here) Upper House of the Parliament (Wolesi Jirga), Fazal Hadi Muslimyar strongly reacted at the remarks of Zamir Kabulov, the special envoy of President Vladimir Putin.
Calling the remarks of Kabulov as shameful and silly, Muslimyar said he strongly condemns the remarks of Kabulov and called on the ministry of foreign affairs to summon the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan to lodge a strong protest in this regard.
Mulsimyar further added that Russia along with the other countries are interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and support the Taliban to kill the innocent Afghan civilians and destroy the public welfare projects....
...The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov has urged for the launch of direct talks between US and Taliban in a bid to end the ongoing violence.
He has warned that the US refusal to talk with the group would lead to persistent war and bloodshed for many years in Afghanistan, according to Bloomberg.
Russia backs the deaths of innocent people in order to continue the war and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a stable democracy in the region. The USA has been an ally to Afghanistan before when it was not a war torn country. Afghanistan's mountains were of interest to Americans and scientists alike. The Afghan infrastructure was once compliments of the USA. That was before the fall of the King, Mohammad Zahir Shah (click here), and the rise of the Taliban with the help of Osama bin Laden. The King came back briefly to endorse the new Karzi government that was seated after the USA invasion of 2001.Nice, right? I mean human beings in Afghanistan are simply trying to live their lives in some of the most remote areas of the world and Russia plays with their lives to stir up anti-American and anti-Afghanistan governments. Karzai was no saint by the time he left office, but, he was far better than the Taliban.
To some extent the Taliban stand on their own. I believe they have the ancient technology to make guns, but, they can't really conduct war without efforts from Russia.
So, in order for Pompeo to deliver the goods for Trump's re-election he had to stop over in Russia and ask pretty please.
Russia has no intentions of ending violence in Afghanistan because it serves it's purpose.
January 29, 2019
By Peter Baker
Washington - One day in October 1979, (click here) an American diplomat named Archer K. Blood arrived at Afghanistan’s government headquarters, summoned by the new president, whose ousted predecessor had just been smothered to death with a pillow.
While the Kabul government was a client of the Soviet Union, the new president, Hafizullah Amin, had something else in mind. “I think he wants an improvement in U.S.-Afghan relations,” Mr. Blood wrote in a cable back to Washington. It was possible, he added, that Mr. Amin wanted “a long-range hedge against over-dependence on the Soviet Union.”
Mr. Blood’s newly published cable sheds light on what really drove the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan only two months after his meeting with Mr. Amin. Spoiler alert: It was not because of terrorism, as claimed this month by President Trump, who said the Soviets were right to invade. Among the real motivations, the cable and other documents suggest, was a fear that Afghanistan might switch loyalties to the West.
“This was a key moment that raised the Soviet sense of threat,” said Thomas S. Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive, a research organization at George Washington University that recently obtained the cable through the Freedom of Information Act and posted it online on Tuesday. “It’s a fascinating case study of the necessity in all of these international affairs of putting yourself in the other guy’s place — what does it look like over there?”...
So, the peace plan Pompeo is touting is only Part One. It is not a complete and lasting peace plan. Trump needs to "see how it goes." But, the US peace plan is a direct result of talks with Russia. The agreement is with the Taliban. It is unclear if the Afghanistan government is actually backing this mess.
February 21, 2020
By Robbie Gramer
...What remains unclear (click here) is whether the peace negotiations to follow will make the current Afghan government a full partner, an issue that has long been a sticking point, as the Taliban refuse to formally recognize Kabul’s authority. Once the agreement is signed on Feb. 29, Pompeo said, “Intra-Afghan negotiations will start soon thereafter, and will build on this fundamental step to deliver a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and the future political roadmap for Afghanistan.”...
So, it appears this is Russia's strategy for the Taliban to extricate the USA from Afghanistan and make a happy victory for Trump's re-election.
Yep, Russia is winning the war on democracy, yet again. The only real reason I remain skeptical of any good outcome to Pompeo's efforts is not just about Russia. The presidential elections were just announced and things are not all happy in Mudville (click here).
February 22, 2020
By Daud Khattak
...Amid the nearly five-month delay (click here) in announcing the conclusion, the hotly contested Afghan presidential election had faded into the background as something more important was happening: The much-awaited outcome of the 18-month peace talks between Taliban representatives and the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on February 21 that the two sides plan to formally sign their peace deal at the end of the month.
The Ghani-Abdullah dispute over the poll result, however, sent shockwaves across Afghan society, where people are anxiously awaiting an end to the nearly two decades of violence. The not-so-unexpected row also exposed the ethnic fault lines in Afghanistan — majority Pashtuns vs the rest — at a time when the war-battered country needs unity more than anything else to open a window to lasting peace....
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