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

[vita3]

i hope Sword is correct in prediction

 

[Swordsmyth]

i hope Sword is correct in prediction

The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

"The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

"If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pullout-afghanistan-ahead-schedule-132219311.html

 

[vita3]

How does India feel about our “withdrawal “ ?

 

[dean.engelhardt]

Nope, we are leaving, try reading the posts.

Do you mean this:

8,600 troops to remain is NOT leaving...lol

Bottom line is we lost the war (we could not win) and letting the Taliban dictate what happens with our troops. We don't have soldiers there we have prisoners.

 

[devil21]

Do you mean this:



Bottom line is we lost the war (we could not win) and letting the Taliban dictate what happens with our troops. We don't have soldiers there we have prisoners.

Poppy field guards and mining corporation guards.

 

[acptulsa]

Poppy field guards and mining corporation guards.

Don't forget the oil field guards.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Do you mean this:



Bottom line is we lost the war (we could not win) and letting the Taliban dictate what happens with our troops. We don't have soldiers there we have prisoners.

Try reading.

8,600 are not going to remain.

We are already below that number and they will ALL leave.

 

[Swordsmyth]

The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

"The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

"If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pullout-afghanistan-ahead-schedule-132219311.html

Bump for those who can't read.

 

[acptulsa]

Bump for those who wake up in a new world every morning--or just want us to wake up in a new world every morning.

Dateline January 26, 2019:

Taliban officials said U.S. negotiators on Saturday agreed a draft peace deal setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months, potentially ending the United States' longest war.The details of the draft were given to Reuters by Taliban sources at the end of six days of talks with U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar aimed at ending the war, more than 17 years since American-led forces invaded Afghanistan.
It stipulates that troops would leave within 18 months of the agreement being signed.
While no joint statement was issued, Khalilzad tweeted later that the talks had made "significant progress" and would resume shortly, adding that he planned to travel to Afghanistan to meet government officials.
"Meetings here (in Qatar) were more productive than they have been in the past. We have made significant progress on vital issues," he wrote, adding that numerous issues still needed work.
"Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and everything must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire," he said in the tweets.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined further comment.
A Taliban statement issued later also noted progress on troop withdrawal and other issues but said more negotiations and internal consultations were required.
"The policy of the Islamic Emirate during talks was very clear -- until the issue of withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is agreed upon, progress in other issues is impossible," said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, using another name the group calls itself.


More at: https://news.yahoo.com/round-u-taliban-talks-ends-progress-draft-peace-123829256.html

 

[Swordsmyth]

Bump for those who wake up in a new world every morning--or just want us to wake up in a new world every morning.

Dateline January 26, 2019:

The deal wasn't finalized at the time.
It was a DRAFT agreement.

It has since been finalized and the withdrawal is AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

But I guess Orange Man is now bad for getting us out of Afghanistan?


Read it and weep:

The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

"The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

"If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pull...132219311.html

 

[acptulsa]

But I guess Orange Man is now bad for getting us out of Afghanistan?

Oh, look. More SJW logic. I'd ask you when you stopped beating your wife, if the idea of someone marrying you weren't so laughable.

Read it and weep:

You're right. Part if that does make me weep. Specifically, the fact that it's all yahoo, and it's highly unlikely that there's a word of truth in it.

But I forgot, didn't I? You have TvsgS so yahoo!'s only fakenews© when it trashes Trump.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Oh, look. More SJW logic. I'd ask you when you stopped beating your wife, if the idea of someone marrying you weren't so laughable.



You're right. Part if that does make me weep. Specifically, the fact that it's all yahoo, and it's highly unlikely that there's a word of truth in it.

But I forgot, didn't I? You have TvsgS so yahoo!'s only fakenews© when it trashes Trump.

LOL

Trying to use the fact that a news aggregator posted the story to claim it's false is hillaryous.

It's from AFP. (not that the source would make it any less true anyway, it's from official sources that seem to be good enough when people want to whine about Trump not having ended all the wars yet)


And just so you don't succeed in sliding it off the current page:

The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home.

Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021.

But a senior US defence official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus.

"The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions," the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age was being prioritised.

Trump told reporters Tuesday the US force level was "down to 7,000-some-odd soldiers right now".

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Campbell said in a statement the US was adhering to its agreement with the Taliban.

Further drawdowns would come "after the US government assesses the security environment and the Taliban's compliance with the agreement", he added.

The Afghan government meanwhile said it would continue with the release of Taliban prisoners that had been agreed in the US deal with the insurgents and is seen as key to kickstarting long-delayed peace talks.

On Tuesday, the Afghan military freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, mostly from Bagram jail near Kabul, as part of a pledge to release up to 2,000 insurgents in response to the Taliban-led ceasefire.

A senior Taliban member told AFP that in return, the insurgents planned to free up to 100 Afghan security force members as early as Thursday.

Top Afghan officials have demanded the Taliban extend the ceasefire and offered to reciprocate.

"If the Taliban are ready to extend the ceasefire, we are ready to continue the ceasefire too," National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said Tuesday.

The future of talks with the insurgents "depends on the Taliban's next move", he added.

The prisoner swap is part of a US-Taliban deal, which excluded the Afghan government, that stipulates Kabul would release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and the militants would free about 1,000 national security personnel.

Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates before the ceasefire, while the insurgents had released about 300 government captives.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-troop-pull...132219311.html

 

[pcosmar]

They are leaving faster than any are rotated in and they will all be gone by early next year or maybe even before November.

Of what year?

Heard that $hit since 1970.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Of what year?

Heard that $hit since 1970.

Go ahead and keep this bumped.

Other people can read.

We are leaving and we are ahead of schedule.

 

[tebowlives]

Go ahead and keep this bumped.

Other people can read.

We are leaving and we are ahead of schedule.

It's hard to believe what Trump says since he lies too often.

 

[Swordsmyth]

It's hard to believe what Trump says since he lies too often.

 

[tebowlives]

lol I guess it doesn't bother you Trump supporters. And why should it since you're all liars too.

 

[Swordsmyth]

lol I guess it doesn't bother you Trump supporters. And why should it since you're all liars too.

Projection.

You are just desperate to deny that Trump is doing something good.

 

[tebowlives]

Projection.

Deceitful comment

You are just desperate to deny that Trump is doing something good.

Because I correctly and truthfully pointed out Trump lies too much? lol Whatever the word is that means you're more than desperate is what you are. Delusional would fit.

And because Trump lies to much I won't believe it until it happens. Keep posting updates on this as that is actually something you are good at. But this isn't about what you made up about me. That's a pussy move.

 

[Swordsmyth]

Deceitful comment

Because I correctly and truthfully pointed out Trump lies too much? lol Whatever the word is that means you're more than desperate is what you are. Delusional would fit.

And because Trump lies to much I won't believe it until it happens. Keep posting updates on this as that is actually something you are good at. But this isn't about what you made up about me. That's a pussy move.

It's happening.
Your attempts to deflect from that by questioning Trump's honesty show desperation.