I have been watching the events in Afghanistan around the possibility of a peace deal between the US and the Taleban……https://lobotero.com/2019/08/27/afghanistan-yes-we-have-a-deal/
After months of back and forth….the news is that there is a deal…..
US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad has reported that the US and Taliban have a peace deal “in principle” now, and that it is just pending approval from President Trump. The Afghan government has confirmed being given a copy of the draft deal.
The specifics are not all public knowledge yet, but negotiators say that the deal would remove some 5,000 US ground troops from Afghanistan in the first five months, in return for the Taliban agreeing to keep ISIS and al-Qaeda out, and reduce violence.
All previous indications were that the deal was meant to see a full withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. This raises questions since Trump promised last week that he would “always” have a presence in Afghanistan.
With only mentions of 5,000 leaving, it leaves questions of what will happen to the other 8,000 or so troops. It is unthinkable for the Taliban to have not covered this matter, but so far those facts are not known.
What is known is that some in the White House want to expand the number of CIA on the ground in Afghanistan even as troops leave. Both the CIA and military are expressing concerns about this, since the CIA has embedded with troops in the past. The in-administration debate is further adding to resistance to leaving Afghanistan at all.(antiwar.com)
We have been close before…..hopefully this time it is closer than in the past…..
“Lego Ergo Scribo”
It sounds like a mishmash of a ‘deal’. Meanwhile, soldiers are still dying…
Best wishes, Pete.
“Deal in principle” means little….at least for now….
Pete I gotta ask about something I read…..
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/shetlanders-show-true-colours-by-waving-the-flag-for-democracy-christine-jardine-1-4994741
Scotland voted against being an independent country in 2014. But since Brexit, the idea of independence is back on the agenda. Currently, the Scottish Nationalists are a strong force in that country, but the islanders tend to be more traditional, and vote for older established parties.
If we leave the EU without a deal, it is likely that Scotland will want a second referendum on independence, and may choose that this time. They are then talking about applying for membership of the EU as a separate country. It’s a mess! 🙂
Is Shetland separate from Scotland as far as politics go that is chuq