Btw, the week-long cooling period ended today ‘successfully’, which means the US and Taliban signed ANOTHER formal agreement in Doha today. Again, the Afghan government was not allowed to play a role but there was a delegation in Doha this time ‘observing’ the proceedings, even though the Taliban almost literally ‘face-palmed’ the importance of the delegation being there. Fascinatingly, the two parties concluding this 3-party deal (lol) are doing so in order to set up a framework in which the Taliban and Afghan govt MIGHT be able to finally sit down and talk to one another….so the Taliban still face-palming the government should be relevant, even though no one in the West is making note of it. 🙂
The original criticisms I gave in an AsiaTimes interview last week still apply, in that everyone in America is talking about today being a ‘giant’ step toward lasting peace in a ‘new’ Afghanistan…..however in REAL terms there is still no formal agreement to even have the Taliban and Afghan government sit across from each other, no comments on open free and equal participation in elections exist, and both sides reserve the right to resume violence against the other if something happens ‘that they dont like’ (which is a fairly broad term, to say the least).
The only true aspect of aligned interests, though for different purposes, is between the US and Taliban: BOTH want US troops out of Afghanistan. Trump wants it so he can use it as a chip in his re-election campaign. The Taliban want it because its the only thing that likely keeps them from feeling emboldened to completely overrun the Afghan government, or at least attempt it. So….this ‘peace deal’ could end up literally reigniting major violence between the two sides in an Afghan civil war…..
Interesting how the Taliban in Afghanistan used to be considered as dangerous by America as groups like ISIL and Al-Qaeda. Today, Pompeo issues a statement how this agreement makes Afghanistan “SAFE” from those two groups….so by absence of mention he is legitimizing the Taliban as a political group. A group that in 2019 averaged 75 attacks PER DAY against all kinds of societal and governmental targets. The only thing historic about this deal may be the fact that, in the end, it is the paper that serves the Afghan government up on a platter for the Taliban.
Hooray for “peace”!
