Tag: Peace Accords

Here Is What The Deal Has To Say

The country, well those interested in foreign affairs, have been waiting for some sort of story about the wording of the deal between US and Iran….and we wait….

Wait no longer the Old Professor has the wording for you….

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles.

2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

4. Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.

5. Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.

6. The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, While ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.

7. The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.

10. The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.

11. The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.

12. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.

13. Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.

14. The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council.

This really was not that hard to locate so I do not know why Donny and the media was dragging their feet.

If I am not mistaken most of the points covered have been recovered before…..so what did we need to start killing civilians for a couple of months ago?

This agreement is a joke!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Same As It Ever Was

According to Donny (take it with a grain of salt) the deal with Iran has already been signed (digital)….

The digital ink is dry on a US-Iran framework, President Trump and other US officials said Monday, that he contends will have the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” by Friday. Arriving at the G7 summit in Évian, Trump touted a memorandum of understanding calling for the US naval blockade to be lifted in exchange for reopening the key oil chokepoint, the Guardian reports. Trump and Vice President JD Vance electronically signed the deal, as did Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator, per the New York Times. Pakistan said a ceremonial signing will be held Friday in Geneva; Trump did not commit to attending but said Vance would.

Little information about the agreement has been released. Vance told CNBC that administration negotiators have “very important details to figure out” in the next phase of the talks. Those details include how the US wants Iran to dispose of its highly enriched uranium. “It’s been nearly 24 hours since Trump announced there was a potential deal with Iran, and we still don’t know the details,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, per CBS News. Trump told reporters in France that the text might not be released until after Friday. “This is a very powerful document and I want it to be released,” he said. “So probably pretty soon.”

Does this mean Israel will have to take a seat?

Israel’s leaders are watching President Trump’s looming Iran deal with more unease than enthusiasm. With the agreement expected to be signed this week but key details still murky, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urgently seeking a meeting with Trump as Israeli officials warn the accord could ease sanctions and revive Iran’s economy without forcing it to surrender enriched uranium, per the Wall Street Journal. While Trump aims to bring the conflict to a close without Iranian regime change, Jerusalem still talks about using military pressure to weaken or possibly topple Tehran and maintaining a “security zone” in Lebanon.

Israel will continue killing civilians in the name of defense…..the same tactic they have been using for at least 50 years and get away with it because the US will always look the other way.

Now that a deal(?) has been signed what does it look like?

Barack Obama predicts some deja vu when the dust settles on the new deal between Iran and the US. In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, the former president said any deal that emerges is unlikely to be much different from the 2015 nuclear accord his administration negotiated, known as the JCPOA—an agreement Trump quit in 2018 and has long castigated as a “horrible deal,” reports ABC News.

“It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different, or in a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place, and had worked for a long stretch of time before we, the United States, pulled out of it,” Obama said in a Good Morning America interview set to air Wednesday, per the Hill. See the preview clip here.

If all that is true just why did we fight with Iran?

Can you see the stupidity here?

The only thing this ‘war’ accomplished was making more money for Donny’s butt buddies….after all is that not what war is for?

Very few people see this as something new and good…..

Way back on March 6, not long after President Donald Trump hurled America into the dumbest war imaginable, our Nobel-Peace-Prize-deficient leader declared on social media: “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”

That was about the same time he said America’s “excursion” into Iran would take “four to five weeks” and “won’t be difficult.”

More than 14 weeks, thousands of lost lives and billions upon billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars later, it appears America is the one surrendering.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/06/15/trump-iran-peace-deal-strait-hormuz/90560252007/

“Trump made Neville Chamberlain look like Winston Churchill,”

‘Trump Made Neville Chamberlain Look Like Winston Churchill’: The Iran Deal Is Nothing Short of a Disaster

Speak up!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Donny Has A Plan For The Middle East

AS you can imagine it is a plan that will not bring peace in the Middle East but it will give Israel more power than it deserves.

President Trump has made a new pivot in Iran peace talks: He’s now pitching a sweeping reset of Middle East relations that would widen a regional pact from his first term called the Abraham Accords. Trump wants more Muslim-majority countries to formally recognize or deepen ties with Israel, and he specifically called out Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan as targets for inclusion. He added that Iran itself could join once it signs a peace deal, asserting that the widened pact would be “the most important Deal” those countries would ever sign. Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates are the current signees, notes the Washington Post.

A Wall Street Journal analysis points out that the idea could give Trump an out with hawkish Republicans who have blasted the emerging Iran framework as too soft and too similar to the Obama-era nuclear deal Trump scrapped in his first term. Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and ex–national security adviser John Bolton all have warned the proposal could bolster Tehran. Graham, however, quickly pivoted to cheer Trump’s Abraham Accords expansion plan as “simply brilliant” and potentially transformative for the region. A New York Times analysis similarly notes that if “more countries sign up to the accords, it could placate some Iran hawks who have criticized Mr. Trump for pursuing a peace deal.”

The major obstacle: the countries Trump is pressuring. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said it won’t normalize relations with Israel without a credible path to Palestinian statehood—something even more remote after Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza and clashes with Iran. Pakistan’s defense minister already has rejected the idea of joining, notes the Times of India. Qatari officials likewise signaled they’re not on board and would only engage Israel on resolving the Palestinian issue. Trump’s vision is “a hope tethered to a galaxy far, far away,” Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tells the Journal. Gulf leaders risk public backlash if they move closer to Israel under current conditions, he says.

This is just another attempt to give Israel the lead in the Middle East….a country that thinks genocide is a good option for settling grievances.

These Accords give Israel everything and peanuts to everyone else involved.

I say screw Israel….the sooner this parasite is put in its place the sooner peace can be achieved in the Middle East….Israel has never held up to any of its commitments to peace in the region ….why would this one be any different?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Minsk II

What started this most recent conflict?

The tensions between the two combatants go back to the early days of the post-Soviet era…..

Relations between Kyiv and Moscow often were marked by a chill even during the years immediately following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Similarly, Ukraine’s internal political, economic, and ideological tensions were evident early on. Indeed, openly secessionist sentiments in both Crimea and the Donbas surfaced in the 1990s. Populations in both regions chafed at being ruled by nationalist, anti-Russia elements based in western Ukraine. Instead, they sought greater respect for Russian as an official second language in Ukraine and wanted closer overall cultural and economic ties with Russia. The current armed conflict has deep and tangled roots, ones that bear elucidation.

UKRAINE’S SUDDEN independence in late 1991 left both Moscow and Kyiv unprepared to deal with each other. That sudden shift in the conditions governing their relations led to an often icy and contentious bilateral relationship during the 1990s. While the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States did prevent a total split between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukraine’s newfound independence occurred against the background of persistent attitudes among both Russian elites and ordinary citizens that Ukraine, like Belarus, is part of one “Greater Russia.” That perspective later became a very prominent and persistent theme in Putin’s speeches and policies, but it was visible much earlier. Even Russian president Boris Yeltsin asserted Russia’s right to raise border issues with the other states emerging from the carcass of the USSR—especially with those countries that had significant Russian minorities, such as Ukraine with its heavily Russified eastern regions. As such, disputes arose quickly between the two newly independent countries.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/russia-ukraine-tensions-flared-early-post-soviet-era-201919

There are many reasons but some are pointing to the Minsk II agreement as the start of this most recent thing.

The year is 2015 and Minsk II was an agreement that was reached between warring factions in Ukraine…..

But what is it?

It was an agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia France and Germany……points were signed….

13 points of agreement….

  • Immediate, comprehensive ceasefire.
  • Withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides.
  • OSCE monitoring.
  • Dialogue on interim self-government for Donetsk and Luhansk, in accordance with Ukrainian law, and acknowledgement of special status by parliament.
  • Pardon, amnesty for fighters.
  • Exchange of hostages, prisoners.
  • Humanitarian assistance.
  • Resumption of socioeconomic ties, including pensions.
  • Ukraine to restore control of state border.
  • Withdrawal of foreign armed formations, military equipment, mercenaries.
  • Constitutional reform in Ukraine including decentralisation, with specific mention of Donetsk and Luhansk.
  • Elections in Donetsk and Luhansk.
  • Intensify Trilateral Contact Group’s work including representatives of Russia, Ukraine and OSCE.

For those interested in this agreement……

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/minsk-conundrum-western-policy-and-russias-war-eastern-ukraine-0/minsk-2-agreement

I think the media ought to analyze this agreement to see if there is something there that provoked this current conflict.

Why a civil war in Ukraine? Historically, Ukraine was cobbled together first by the Russian Empire, then the Soviet Union over 4 centuries, containing disparate peoples. The main ones were the Western leaning, Ukrainian speaking people in the north and west, and the Russian speaking in the east and south.

Their relationship was always toxic, but under Soviet rule relative peace prevailed. Once freed from Soviet rule in 1999, the tension between the two disparate groups resurfaced. Fifteen years on the U.S. essentially blew up whatever chance for peaceful resolution by aiding a coup which violently removed Russian leaning President Yanukovych, replacing him with an ultra nationalist government under Petro Poroshenko.

Thus began the civil war in the Donbas that has killed over 14,000 Ukrainians in Kiev’s effort to subjugate and marginalize the hated Russian leaning Ukrainians. And leading the carnage for the past 3 years is current president Volodymyr Zelensky. Calling him the new Churchill doesn’t quite fit.

Minsk II: Two Words You’ll Never Hear on Mainstream News

The agreement was open to interpretation and thusly open to violations…..

Under the agreements, Ukraine wants Russia and its proxy forces to withdraw and allow Ukraine to take back control of the border before the proposed local elections under international standards take place. Then, instead of granting the territories the special status that Russia has argued for, Kyiv would give the territories some extra powers but essentially incorporate them into its existing decentralisation programme.

Ukraine’s interpretation of the agreement envisions alterations to some of the prickliest political elements, but in doing so, it negates what Russia has shown it wants from Minsk – the ability to continue to control the territories and through them have a say in Ukraine’s national affairs on an ongoing basis.

If Ukraine fulfilled Russia’s interpretation of the agreements, it would give the occupied region special status. In Russia’s eyes, this would include its own police force, described as a ‘people’s militia’; the right to choose judges and prosecutors; support from Kyiv of the region’s transnational cooperation with Russia; amnesty for anyone involved in the fighting on the Russian side; and elections. All of this would happen before the Russian-controlled and Russian forces withdrew.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/russia-ukraine-what-are-the-minsk-agreements/

And 7 years later we have the dire situation that is tearing Ukraine at the seams.

For more information and opinion on the Minsk agreements….

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-are-minsk-agreements-ukraine-conflict-2022-02-21/

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“lego ergo scribo”

What’s Next For Putin?

The MSM has generated a continuing saga with an off the cuff statement…..calling for a coup against Putin (not really but the media has made it so)….

But the question has been asked….what will Putin do next?

After the guns fall silent….I ask what is next for Putin and/or Ukraine?

If things do not go well in Ukraine could “Vlad the Invader’ seems to have an old idea…the partition of Ukraine….

If I remember properly I believe back in 2003/2004 Biden was a proponent of partitioning Iraq into 3 ‘states’….a bad idea for Iraq….

Now I have read about a similar idea from Putin about Ukraine…..

Since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, most western media accounts have assumed that his goal is to conquer the entire country, overthrow the elected government, and replace it with a pro-Russian regime. These reports, and the maps that accompany them, often fail to take into account the different regions of Ukraine, and how Russia may covet some more than others.

This is the same fundamental error that accompanied early reports on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which often overlooked internal ethnic and religious territoriality in those countries, and used top-down political and military analysis that treated them only as unitary states. It wasn’t until later in those wars that maps of ethnic and sectarian divisions began to explain the patterns of resistance to U.S. occupation. Like those two countries, Ukraine is not just a piece on a geopolitical chess board, but a place, with its own rich diversity and relationships among peoples.

Moreover, western media tends to treat the Ukraine conflict only in the light of the 20th-century Cold War, assuming that the former KGB agent Putin wants to recreate the Soviet Union. Yet Putin has said the exact opposite, in a flourish of anti-Communist rhetoric that preceded the invasion. His vision is clearly of a renewed Russian Empire, but analysts from recent settler-colonial states have difficulty understanding that memories can extend many centuries earlier than the mere 74-year life of the Soviet Union.

Is Putin Heading Toward a Partition of Ukraine?

Let’s leave Ukraine in the rear view mirror, for now…..

Will Putin be happy with a victory in Ukraine?

Some say no….that his relentless assault on Ukraine is only the beginning…..

Turn your attention to Moldova to the west of Ukraine…..

Moldova | History, Population, Map, Flag, Capital, & Facts | Britannica

The thing is that there is a friend in this region other than Belarus….Transnistria

Map of Moldova with Transnistria y Gagauzia marked (see online version... | Download Scientific Diagram

This break away region is Russia friendly…but that is for another post, no doubt)…..

Here is a video from Belarus that claims that Russia has further desires in Eastern Europe….

Is this a reality or just posturing?

Is ‘Vlad the Invader’ really that bloodthirsty?

I think not.  His army has proven that they are not up to invasion successfully.

But we shall see.

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I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

New Map For Middle East

It has finally happened….all the influence that the US has in the courts of the Middle East has proven to be just what Israel needed…..

And the Neocons dance.

The new agreement signed between Israel and UAE and Bahrain threatens to draw a new map…but to what end?

The imminent establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, is part of an on-going process of security cooperation going back many years. While that robs the event of some drama, it also increases its significance. It means that the process of ending the era of Arab-Israeli confrontation will continue, culminating perhaps in a political upheaval in Iran. That is the road that the Middle East may now be on.

Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait are some of the Arab countries reported to be considering peace deals with Israel. One or two of those countries may hold back, and Saudi Arabia, while supporting the process of regional normalization with Israel, may officially withhold formal recognition. It doesn’t matter. Even without official ties, all these countries have in a spiritual sense ended their hostility to the Jewish state.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/middle-east%E2%80%99s-new-map-169503

Sudan and Oman may be the next to jump on this doomed agreement…

According to reports in Israeli media, Sudan and Oman could announce normalization deals with Israel as soon as next week. The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Friday that Oman and Sudan are currently involved in US-brokered talks with Israel.

Israel’s i24News reported on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to meet with Sudan’s Sovereignty Council Chairman Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Uganda in the coming days.

Sources also told i24News that a Sudanese-Israeli Friendship Association will be inaugurated in Khartoum on Saturday. This inauguration is expected to start a normalization process between the two countries.

Sudan was designated a state sponsor of terror by the US in 1993. Khartoum has been negotiating with the US to be removed from that list for over a year. Sources told Reuters that the US is now demanding Sudan normalizes with Israel to be taken off the list.

(antiwar.com)

So a form of bribery to get some to play nice with Israel.

Keep in mind that Israel has done very little to live up to their agreements in the past….like the Oslo Accords…..

Then there is the history of the Arab League comes into the story…..why would they abandon the Palestinian people in favor of Israel?

As one Gulf state after another embraces formal ties with Israel, some have looked to the Arab League to condemn normalisation. Yet to understand why the league will do nothing of the sort, one has to go back to its founding. 

The League of Arab States was founded in 1945 at the instigation and planning of Britain to protect British imperial interests.

The British made sure that the Palestine question was subcontracted to the independent Arab states to absolve itself of responsibility for what it had wrought in the country. Seventy-five years later, the league has been transformed beyond recognition in most aspects, except in its major role of serving imperial interests.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-arab-league-helped-dissolve-palestinian-question

Just another betrayal of democratic principles in favor of a profits for the war machine.

I do not always agree with the Neocons and this is one area that I think they are paid agents of Israel…..they are making the new “peace deal”” sound like it is the end agreement….

Take, for example, the recent peace deals signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. These agreements were the result of a United States-led peace initiative widely condemned by professional diplomats and self-styled foreign policy experts. After Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution that condemned the move. The General Assembly later voted 128-9 to denounce America’s decision.

The General Assembly’s position on Jerusalem, of course, paled in comparison to the U.N.’s many decades of financing hatred in the Middle East toward Israel and Jews through its duplicative Palestinian-related committees, the Israel-bashing Human Rights Council, and the U.N. agency for so-called Palestinian refugees. These raise and educate generation after generation to hate Israelis and reject any peace that doesn’t lead to Israel’s destruction.

Trump succeeded where the UN failed

If you read that piece then you will notice that little mention about the rights and lives of the country’s original residents is made…instead it is hawking to benefits of Israel……FDD is a front for Neocon ideology…….there is more they have to say….

Criticism of Israel’s treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been relentless. The New York Times’ Roger Cohen calls it “Trump’s Middle Eastern Mirage” and “something rotten.” A Washington Post oped calls it “a big step – in the wrong direction.” Reporting by Bloomberg describes the deal as “thin.” Middle East analyst Daniel Levy writes that the agreement is merely “the codification of an existing reality” which does “nothing by way of advancing peace in any arena.” They are wrong.

The “Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel” is a robust, legally binding peace treaty that represents a strategic pivot by the UAE. The UAE-Israel Peace Treaty commits the two countries to a relationship far warmer—and with far more intensive cooperation in economic, scientific, and social fields—than the cold peace Israel has with Egypt and Jordan (outside the security field).

UAE-Israel Treaty Is Far Larger Step Towards Peace Than Critics Allege

Once again these people are calling this a “good” deal…..it does not take into consideration the numerous human rights violations of Israel against the people of the West Bank and Gaza…..this is just another piece of manure disguised as a deal.

These is little democratic principles at work in the “only democracy in the Middle East”….money can buy a lot of beneficial PR.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here We Go Afghanistan

We have a peace deal or more likely a ceasefire deal….after several days on the books how does the deal seem to look to the world?

US intel says that the Taleban will not hold to the terms of the agreement…….

The U.S. government has collected persuasive intelligence that the Taliban do not intend to honor the promises they have made in the recently signed deal with the United States, three American officials tell NBC News, undercutting what has been days of hopeful talk by President Donald Trump and his top aides.

“They have no intention of abiding by their agreement,” said one official briefed on the intelligence, which two others described as explicit evidence shedding light on the Taliban’s intentions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/officials-u-s-has-persuasive-intel-taliban-does-not-intend-n1150051

And then there is another story that contradicts what the intel people are saying…..

Days after halting all offensive operations to ink a “peace deal,” the U.S. military has launched an air strike against Taliban fighters in Helmand after the jihadist group conducted dozens of attacks against Afghan forces there.

Resolute Support’s spokesman called for the Taliban to “uphold their commitments” and not increase attacks, even though the U.S.-Taliban agreement signed last weekend does not include such language.

The drone strike hit Taliban fighters in Naha-i-Saraj, a contested district in Helmand province, as they “were actively attacking an ANDSF checkpoint,” Col. Sonny Leggett, the spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and Resolute Support tweeted today.

U.S. military perplexed by Taliban living up to letter of agreement

As long as we are talking about the war in Afghanistan…..why not take look at a ‘what if’?

Here’s a little thought experiment. Imagine it’s Sept. 12, 2001, and America is in deep shock over the destruction of the World Trade Center the previous day. George W. Bush goes on national TV and declares:

“Now is not the time to lose our heads. Like Pearl Harbor, the death of thousands of innocent people in Lower Manhattan is a crime that will live in infamy. But our response must be carefully calibrated. With that in mind, we are sending teams of commandos to Afghanistan with the sole purpose of apprehending Osama bin Laden and his top henchmen. Once they’re arrested – and, mark my words, they will be – we will bring them to New York to stand trial just a few yards from where their despicable act of mass murder occurred. We have no quarrel with the people of Afghanistan. But we will have no dealings with the Taliban government as long as it harbors despicable terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. We are confident that our allies will do the same.”

The result of such a well-calibrated response would have been no war in Afghanistan, no prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, and almost certainly no war in Iraq either. Without earlier conflicts to pave the way, intervention in Libya, Syria, and Yemen would have all proved more difficult. Countless deaths would have been avoided and entire societies spared.

Afghanistan: Imagine There’s No Future

I am proud that we have tried to end this endless war…..I just hope all sides keep calm and carry on……

But all the “good” news will US troops finally leave the country and return to their families?

At the core of the two documents, according to people familiar with their contents, is a timeline for what should happen over the next 18 months, what kinds of attacks are prohibited by both sides and, most important, how the United States will share information about its troop locations with the Taliban.

While it may sound odd that the American military is sharing troop locations with its enemy of 18 years, the goal is to give the Taliban information that would allow it to prevent attacks during the withdrawal. Mr. Pompeo described the annexes last week as “military implementation documents.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-secret-accord-with-the-taliban-when-and-how-the-us-would-leave-afghanistan/ar-BB10UfgA

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

After The Afghan Deal

We have a peace deal in Afghanistan with the Taleban…..good news if the deal holds…..

Now for the news after the ink on the deal…..The troops could be coming home in about 14 months….

With a peace deal signed Saturday, the US occupation of Afghanistan has entered the beginning of the end, at least ideally. If all goes well, all American troops will be out of Afghanistan within 14 months.

The ink on the paper is hardly dry, but US officials are already looking to define the terms of withdrawing from the deal, saying the pullout is conditional on the Taliban meeting many commitments along the way.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is already predicting a “rocky and bumpy” future in Afghanistan, which seems like it will give the US plenty of pretexts to back out of the peace deal down the line if they decide not to withdraw after all.

The plan has always been to cut US troop levels in the lead-up to the 2020 election, and it will likely be seen as preferable by the administration to do this as part of a broader deal, even if they don’t ultimately intend to finish the pullout.

Rumors abound of a secret annex to the peace deal allowing the US to keep some troops in Afghanistan, and while the Pentagon denies knowledge of this, there has yet to be any conclusive proof that secret annexes don’t exist.

(antiwar.com)

The Hawks in Congress are rolling in the seats…..they cannot let their owners in the M-IC lose their profits…..

19 years of US occupation of Afghanistan has built up some momentum behind the conflict, and despite how poorly the war has been going, there is still a sense among hawks that any deal that ends the war must be a bad one.

This has President Trump facing lobbying, some quiet and some not-so-quiet, from Republican hawks urging him to find a way to back out of the peace process and keep US troops on the ground.

That would surely be seen by most Taliban as a breach, and would restart the war. For the hawks, that’s likely not accidental, as many see eternal war in Afghanistan as a vital US interest.

President Trump is still answering questions with the catch-all “we’ll see what happens,” but has seen the pullout as politically important in the 2020 election. His commitment to peace clearly comes and goes, with previous abandonment of the Afghan peace a perfect example, but wanting troop cuts has been a persistent matter.

(antiwar.com)

Is this a violation?

U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against Taliban fighters in Helmand, Afghanistan, Wednesday, the first such strike since the two sides signed a historic peace deal.

The airstrike was conducted as a “defensive” measure as Taliban fighters were “actively attacking” an Afghan government checkpoint, Colonel Sonny Legget, the spokesman for American forces in Afghanistan, said.

https://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/us-forces-conduct-airstrike-taliban-soldiers-days-agreement/story

The beat goes on….and the war will continue…..this whole thing was nothing but an election ploy……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Afghan Peace Deal

After much anticipation from us foreign policy wonks a peace deal has been inked between the Taleban and them US…..

US officials and Taliban representatives have signed an agreement after months of negotiations in Qatar’s capital that is aimed at ending the United States’s longest war, fought in Afghanistan since 2001.

Saturday’s agreement, signed in Doha in the presence of leaders from Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, will pave the way for the US to gradually withdraw its troops.

(aje.com)

This is great news…..but in case the media does not offer the conditions/wording of the peace deal I will help you out.

A comprehensive peace agreement is made of four parts:

1. Guarantees and enforcement mechanisms that will prevent the use of the soil of Afghanistan by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies.

2. Guarantees, enforcement mechanisms, and announcement of a timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan.

3. After the announcement of guarantees for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and timeline in the presence of international witnesses, and guarantees and the announcement in the presence of international witnesses that Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will start intra-Afghan negotiations with Afghan sides on March 10, 2020, which corresponds to Rajab 15, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Hoot 20, 1398 on the Hijri Solar calendar.

4. A permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations. The participants of intra-Afghan negotiations will discuss the date and modalities of a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, including joint implementation mechanisms, which will be announced along with the completion and agreement over the future political roadmap of Afghanistan.

But if you need to see the entire wording of the agreement then I can help here as well…..https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/taliban-peace-agreement-200229134403285.html

I think this is a good thing…..after 2 decades any way home for our troops is a good thing.

The group BringOurTroopsHome is also pleased with the deal….

Sgt. Dan McKnight, Afghanistan war veteran and founder of BringOurTroopsHome.US, Saturday praised President Donald Trump’s announcement of a peace agreement with Taliban forces that could lead to total withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan some time next year. The announcement came a day after McKnight blasted Congresswoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for attempting to publicly undercut Trump’s efforts.

“After nearly two decades, we’re grateful that our Commander-in-Chief stood with the American people and with America’s fighting men and women and their families,” McKnight said, “and ignored the wolf-crying demands of chicken hawks such as Liz Cheney, whose family profiteered from hundreds of millions of dollars in military contracts, literally making money off wars they sent other people to fight.”

“The demands Ms. Cheney tried to dictate to the president earlier this week were designed to do one thing,” McKnight said, “prevent him from keeping his campaign promise to end the longest war in American history and bring our troops home. Thank you for listening to the American people, Mr. President, and ignoring Chicken Hawk Cheney.”

Now it is time to start searching for ways to end the other endless wars we are still fighting.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

There Is An Afghan Deal!

Could his be the beginning of something good?

The 7-day “reduction in violence” negotiated between the United States and the Taliban is set to begin on Feb. 22, an Afghan government official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Task & Purpose on Monday.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen reported on Monday that the US and Taliban have finalized the language of the Afghanistan peace deal. The US has not confirmed this yet, but had indicated in recent days that such a deal was imminent.

Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah confirmed the deal is finalized, saying that his understanding is that the signature depends on the success of the reduction of violence. If all goes well, the deal should be signed by all sides by the end of February.

The exact language of the deal has never been public, though indications are that it was effectively finalized in October of last year and has not substantially changed. The deal sees the US commit to a withdrawal from Afghanistan, negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and a commitment by the Taliban to fight al-Qaeda and ISIS to keep them out of the country.

The deal should end a 19-year US occupation of Afghanistan, and bring American troops home. It is expected that NATO forces will be withdrawing with the US, and the Afghan factions will reach a power-sharing deal.

This is a good start….and I hope that it can be expanded and the US troops can finally come home for that much needed rest.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”