And so it begins, U.S. troops start to withdraw from Afghanistan

A bitter feud between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah appeared closer to resolution Friday after Abdullah said the two men had moved forward in talks.

"We have made progress in negotiations & reached tentative agreement on a range of principles. Work on details is underway to finalize the agreement," Abdullah said on Twitter.

Abdullah previously served as Afghanistan's "chief executive" under a power-sharing deal with Ghani, but lost that post following last year's presidential elections that Ghani won amid claims of fraud.

Instead of accepting defeat, Abdullah proclaimed himself president, a title he uses to this day, though the international community only recognises Ghani.

The dispute has proved a huge distraction for Afghanistan at a terrible time, with the coronavirus crisis worsening daily and the Taliban stepping up attacks despite a deal they signed with the US in February.

"We hope to finalize the political agreement at the earliest so that we can pay undivided attention to tackling COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring a just, dignified & lasting peace, & confronting the security & economic challenges in a spirit of national unity & solidarity," Abdullah tweeted.

Ghani's office did not immediately comment.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Aghan official told AFP that Abdullah has made a multi-pronged proposal to Ghani.

The offer would see Abdullah appointed to lead eventual peace talks with the Taliban while also getting a 50-percent share of the government including several high-ranking positions for his allies.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/afghan-president-feuding-rival-reach-tentative-agreement-131016016.html
 
Swordsmyth said:
President Donald Trump has pushed his military and national security advisers in recent days to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan amid concerns about a major coronavirus outbreak in the war-torn country, according to two current and one former senior U.S. officials.

Trump complains almost daily that U.S. troops are still in Afghanistan and are now vulnerable to the pandemic, the officials said. His renewed push to withdraw all of them has been spurred by the convergence of his concern that coronavirus poses a force protection issue for thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and his impatience with the halting progress of his peace deal with the Taliban, the officials said.

The U.S. military is in the midst of a drawdown in Afghanistan already. In early March it began decreasing its total footprint from more than 12,000 to 8,600 over 135 days. But troops have been leaving the country faster than originally planned, according to two U.S. defense officials, and the U.S. is now on track to beat the original deadline.

"U.S. Forces Afghanistan continues to draw down force levels and expects to be at 8,600 U.S. troops in 135 days (mid-July) in accordance with the U.S.-Taliban agreement. USFOR-A remains committed to supporting our Afghan partners throughout the process and maintains the capabilities and authorities necessary to accomplish our objectives," said Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell, a Pentagon spokesperson.

Trump, who campaigned in 2016 with a promise to end wars like the one in Afghanistan, has frequently expressed frustration with progress there since his early days in office. But the recent political stalemate combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated his impatience.

"He is itching to get out. He's pushing the Pentagon on it," the former official said.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-pushes-advisers-u-troops-150000743.html
Click to expand...
Why does Trump need to push military and national security advisers to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan? Doesn't he know the President controls troop movements and can bring them home at any time?

Don't you know that?
 
Still there with more troops than when he took initial position of commander in chief...
 
tebowlives said:
Why does Trump need to push military and national security advisers to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan? Doesn't he know the President controls troop movements and can bring them home at any time?

Don't you know that?
Click to expand...
Politics, he has to be able to say that the experts agree with him.
 
Swordsmyth said:
We are leaving completely and we are ahead of schedule.
Click to expand...
Im March he said 14 months. So thats May 2021. Now because of the Corona virus it's stepped up?

"The accord states that the US will, assuming the Taliban lives up to its end of the deal, cut the number of American troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 in the first 135 days."

Let me guess, Capt No Policy will fall for a staged Gas attack again.

The could be withdrawal has nothing to do with being un Constitutional so we need to pullout. Not about exposing our troops needlessly while not protecting our borders, but because of a virus. I'll take it, but I wont believe it til it happens.
 
With violence surging in Afghanistan, and its government still deeply at odds with the Taliban, the Trump administration said Friday that a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the nation's longest war was still on track.

The administration's special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said "challenges" were blocking progress on a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed earlier this year that was meant to clear the way for U.S. forces to leave. But he said both sides remained interested in ending a conflict that has gone on for decades.

Khalilzad said a horrific attack Tuesday on a maternity ward in Kabul that left newborn babies, their mothers and pregnant women dead, was the work of an offshoot of Islamic State and not the Taliban, the militant group that does not recognize the Afghan government. The Taliban has denied responsibility, but the Afghanistan government — which was not part of the withdrawal agreement — remains skeptical.

At the Pentagon on Friday, spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the U.S. is proceeding with plans to reduce its troop count in Afghanistan to 8,600, from roughly 12,000, by early summer.

“We’re still moving forward with the force reduction levels that we’re committed to,” he said. “We expect to meet that.”

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/troop-withdrawal-peace-process-track-100232479.html
 
Their schedule when it’s met....if it’s ever met....puts them back @ numbers as when he got the job...

NOT GOOD
 
vita3 said:
Their schedule when it’s met....if it’s ever met....puts them back @ numbers as when he got the job...

NOT GOOD
Click to expand...
They are going to continue past that point until they are all gone, that is what the deal says and Trump and his representatives keep saying we will stick to the deal as long as the Taliban doesn't attack our troops whether they make peace with the Afghan government or not.

VERY GOOD!
 
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing deal to end a months-long political stalemate, Ghani's spokesman said on Sunday, a step that could smooth efforts to end the country's longrunning war.

"The Political Agreement between President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah has just been signed," said Sediq Sediqqi, Ghani's spokesman, on Twitter. Abdullah would lead the council for peace talks with the insurgent Taliban and his team members would be included in cabinet, Sediqqi added.

Seddiqi said more details would be released shortly. It was not immediately known which ministerial positions Abdullah's camp would control.

Washington has been frustrated by the growing impasse between the two men, even after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to Kabul in March to mediate. It had announced it planned to cut $1 billion in aid because the men could not agree.

Growing financial pressures

It was not immediately clear whether Sunday's agreement would result in the aid commitment being reinstated. Afghanistan is facing growing fiscal pressures, with tax revenues falling and foreign aid pledges due this year expected to shrink.

Officials say a deal between Ghani and Abdullah is crucial to launching peace talks, as Abdullah's camp represents much of the country's north-west.

U.S. Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday that a new date for intra-Afghan peace talks was under discussion and he would soon travel to the region and try to encourage a reduction in violence.

More at: https://www.france24.com/en/2020051...-signs-power-sharing-deal-with-rival-abdullah
 
Still there..

I heard of pull outs from Vietnam,,for several Years before I enlisted..
Ended when I was at Ft Polk.

Been in Afghanistan longer than Vietnam for less reason.
 
Swordsmyth said:
They are going to continue past that point until they are all gone, that is what the deal says and Trump and his representatives keep saying we will stick to the deal as long as the Taliban doesn't attack our troops whether they make peace with the Afghan government or not.

VERY GOOD!
Click to expand...
Do we know what the troop levels are currently? Didn't the Trump administration stop publishing the numbers?
Any withdrawal is good.

vita3 said:
Their schedule when it’s met....if it’s ever met....puts them back @ numbers as when he got the job...

NOT GOOD
Click to expand...
I had no idea this withdrawal is about getting it back to pre Trump levels.
 
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