„Do you believe you bear any responsibility in the way that withdrawal played out?“ Harris was asked by a moderator.
„Well, I will tell you, I agreed with President Biden‘s decision to pull out of Afghanistan.“ she said.
„Four presidents said they would and Joe Biden did.“
During the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 U.S. service members were killed in a terrorist attack.
„I didn’t hear a single thing that would give comfort to the very allies you spoke about. I’ve heard from people in the region. They are frightened by the American collapse—the American collapse of temerity and strength and power that we demonstrated for four years that had frankly kept the Taliban at bay and prevented precisely what you’re precisely seeing happen today, and I didn’t hear a single thing that would frighten a single Taliban who thinks there’s any risk that this administration would impose any cost on them for their activities, for what they are doing to Americans today and holding them hostage—not permitting them to get into the airport in Kabul so that we can get them home to their families. „
(16.03.2021)
In an exclusive interview with The Grayzone, Col. Douglas Macgregor, a former senior advisor to the acting secretary of defense, revealed that President Donald Trump shocked the US military only days after the election last November by signing a presidential order calling for the withdrawal of all remaining US troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
As Macgregor explained to The Grayzone, the order to withdraw was met with intense pressure from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Gen. Mark M. Milley, which caused the president to capitulate. Trump agreed to withdraw only half of the 5,000 remaining troops in the country. Neither Trump’s order nor the pressure from the JCS chairman was reported by the national media at the time.
(02.03.2021)
Like NATO, Afghan officials stated that it is critical for U.S. troops to remain so that Taliban and Afghan leaders can reach peace agreements. According to the Washington Post, Afghan officials announced that the maintenance of a small U.S. counter-terrorism force in Afghanistan would provide the country’s government with more leverage during peace talks than the country would have without military aid. These negotiations could bring a decades-long, violent war to a peaceful end.
Negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban began in September as part of a February 2020 agreement between the militants and the United States. But the talks have faltered over issues like a prisoner exchange and reductions in violence.
Mr. Blinken wrote that the United States had not decided whether to withdraw the remaining 2,500 American troops from Afghanistan by May 1, as outlined in its agreement with the Taliban.
Die USA wollen ihr Abkommen mit den radikalislamischen Taliban in Afghanistan überprüfen. Das kündigte die neue US-Regierung gestern in Washington an. Dies habe der Sicherheitsberater Jake Sullivan seinem afghanischen Kollegen mitgeteilt.
The Afghan government and the Taliban have resolved key sticking points that had stalled peace talks for weeks, several sources told AFP on Friday, clearing the way for negotiations to move forward.
Die Umbildung eröffnet Trump die Möglichkeit, noch vor dem Machtwechsel am 20. Jänner nicht erfüllte Wahlversprechen einzulösen. Dazu gehört möglicherweise die Anordnung eines vollständigen Abzugs der US-Streitkräfte aus Afghanistan.
Am Dienstag sagte der nationale Sicherheitsberater Robert O‘Brien, dass die Regierung einen Plan habe, die Truppenstärke bis Anfang nächsten Jahres auf rund 2.500 Mann in Afghanistan zu senken, Zahlen, die mit der Doha-Vereinbarung auf dem richtigen Weg zu sein scheinen. In den vergangenen Wochen hat O‘Brien wiederholt gesagt, dass dies der Plan der Regierung sei.
It would be a “huge mistake” to withdraw the bulk of U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan by next year, as previously suggested by President Trump, former White House National Security Adviser John R. Bolton said Monday.
Fast zwei Jahrzehnte nach der US-geführten Militärinvasion in Afghanistan haben in Katar innerafghanische Friedensgespräche begonnen. Delegationen der Taliban und der Regierung Afghanistans kamen in Doha für eine Eröffnungszeremonie zusammen.
If realized, a peace deal would be the first time in generations that a new form of Afghan government was not being established at the point of a gun: The current model was ushered in by the American invasion that toppled the Taliban’s harsh Islamic regime in 2001, and each previous one back to the 1979 Soviet invasion was set off by coup, collapse or conquest.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave for Doha, Qatar, on Thursday night for the start of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, President Trump announced.
Die Taliban sind bereits in Doha, die afghanische Regierungs-Delegation, unter Führung des Vorsitzenden des Hohen Rates für Nationale Versöhnung, Abdullah Abdullah, werde heute im Laufe des Tages anreisen, hieß es. Auch US-Außenminister Mike Pompeo werde dabei sein, kündigte Präsident Donald Trump gestern Abend in Washington an.
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the House Armed Services Committee has added a Liz Cheney-spearheaded amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which throws severe roadblocks in the Trump administration’s proposed scale-down of US military presence in Afghanistan and Germany.
As The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald notes, both parties advancing the amendment cited in their arguments the completely unsubstantiated intelligence leak that was recently published by credulous mass media reporters alleging that Russia has paid bounties to Taliban fighters for killing the occupying forces in Afghanistan. Yet another western imperialist agenda once again facilitated by unforgivably egregious journalistic malpractice in the mass media.
Max Blumenthal breaks down the “Russian bounty” story’s flaws and how it aims to prolong the war in Afghanistan — and uses Russiagate tactics to continue pushing the Democratic Party to the right
Now, I’m not implying Trump is some kind of hippy peacenik. (He would look atrocious with no bra and flowers in his hair.) No, the military under Trump has dropped more bombs than under Obama, and that’s impressive since Obama dropped more bombs than ever before.
However, in certain areas of the world, Trump has threatened to create peace. Sure, he’s doing it for his own ego and because he thinks his base wants it, but whatever the reason, he has put forward plans or policies that go against the military industrial complex and the establishment war-hawks (which is 95 percent of the establishment).
Vor zwei Jahren konnte SIGAR zum Beispiel noch detailliert aufgezeigen, welche Gebiete in Afghanistan von den Aufständischen und nicht von der Regierung kontrolliert werden. Diese Daten werden laut SIGAR nicht mehr von der NATO und dem US-Militär erhoben und ihnen zur Verfügung gestellt. Ebenso wenig wie Daten, die zeigen, wie viele Angriffe von Aufständischen es in Afghanistan in jüngster Zeit gegeben hatte. Diese Informationen gelten neuerdings als geheim, kritisiert SIGAR. Begründung des Militärs: Die Verhandlungen und das Abkommen mit den Taliban.
(26.05.2020)
The Pentagon is expected to try to persuade a commander in chief who has made clear his desire to end America’s involvement in what he has criticized as “endless wars” — and who has regularly surprised the military with his decisions.
President Trump has apparently confirmed reports from earlier in the week that he wants to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan in time for Election Day. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump was keen on a plan to bring forces home by November because it would likely give a boost to his campaign.
Er hatte dort Staatschef Ashraf Ghani sowie dessen Erzrivalen Abdullah Abdullah getroffen, die seit der Wahl im vergangenen Jahr beide die Präsidentschaft für sich beanspruchen.
Die USA seien „enttäuscht“ über das Verhalten der beiden afghanischen Rivalen, erklärte Pompeo. Deren Versäumnis, eine Einheitsregierung zu bilden, habe die Beziehungen zwischen den USA und Afghanistan „beschädigt“.
Pompeo will meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, ex-Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who also proclaimed himself president after results of the September vote were published with a months-long delay.
The Kabul-Taliban prisoner swap, which is one of the steps outlined in the Doha agreement will allegedly be at the top of the agenda,
Das nun bis zum 31. März 2021 verlängerte Mandat sieht vor, dass weiterhin bis zu 1.300 Soldaten entsandt werden können. Für eine Verlängerung plädierten Politiker und Politikerinnen von SPD und Union.
„Nach fast zwei Jahrzehnten sind wir dankbar, dass unser Oberbefehlshaber dem amerikanischen Volk und den kämpfenden Männern und Frauen Amerikas und ihren Familien zur Seite stand“, sagte McKnight, „und die wölfischen Forderungen von Armstuhlkriegern wie Liz Cheney ignorierte, deren Familie von Hunderten von Millionen Dollar an Militärverträgen profitierte und buchstäblich Geld mit Kriegen verdiente, in die sie andere Menschen schickte.“
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.
The peace plan calls for the Trump administration to initially draw down U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan from 13,000 to 8,600, with the remaining American forces withdrawing in 14 months.
In return, the Taliban promise not to let extremists use the country to stage attacks on the U.S. or its allies. The Taliban and representatives from Kabul must negotiate a framework for a postwar Afghanistan.
Whatever emerges, Trump—to his credit and to the shame of those Trump critics who consider themselves more responsible stewards of U.S. foreign policy—has shattered the generation-long American political cowardice that inhibited negotiating an end to the war.
At least three times over the past 19 years that the U.S. could have had such a deal, on terms at least as favorable to Washington as the one reached now, and likely better.
– Pompeo was on hand for signing of the historic peace deal with the Taliban on Saturday in Doha, Qatar
– Deal paves the way for a full US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 14 months if conditions are met
– Taliban agrees to steps to ensure Afghanistan doesn‘t once again become a safe-haven for terrorists
– America has been at war in Afghanistan for 18 years since invasion after the 9/11 terror attacks
– Announcement of peace deal came after a partial week-long truce between the parties
The United States signed a deal with the Taliban on Saturday that sets the stage to end America’s longest war — the nearly two-decade-old conflict in Afghanistan that began after the Sept. 11 attacks, killed tens of thousands of people, vexed three White House administrations and left mistrust and uncertainty on all sides.
Mehr als 18 Jahre nach dem US-Einmarsch in Afghanistan haben die USA und die militant-islamistischen Taliban ein Abkommen über Wege zu einem Frieden geschlossen.