Trump Administration is Making Serious Progress to End the Longest War in American History
President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is a stark departure from his predecessors, as he has chosen to extend the olive branch to world leaders reviled by the military-industrial complex rather than provoke them. His talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan are proving particularly fruitful.
Trump met with national security advisers and his Cabinet members last week to hear from Zalmay Khalilzad, who is the chief U.S. envoy for peace talks with the Taliban. Others at the meeting included Vice President Mike Pence, CIA Director Gina Haspel, national security adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
The first step of the proposed peace deal would involve the removal of approximately 5,000 of the 14,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban would renounce Al Qaeda and sanction the anti-American terrorist group by preventing them from recruiting, fundraising and training in Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan.
The White House is being vague about the particular details of the negotiations. Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley said that “discussions centered around our ongoing negotiations and eventual peace and reconciliation agreement with the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan.”
“The meeting went very well,” Gidley added.
President Trump also released a tweet without specifics claiming that the two sides are coming closer together:
Just completed a very good meeting on Afghanistan. Many on the opposite side of this 19 year war, and us, are looking to make a deal – if possible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
Trump’s negotiations for peace in Afghanistan are angering hawkish neoconservative lawmakers in Washington D.C. – led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who was a vocal proponent of the disastrous war in Iraq.
To argue for endless war, Graham said that “to trust the Taliban to control al-Qaeda” and extremist groups in Afghanistan “as a replacement for a U.S. counterterrorism force would be a bigger mistake than Obama’s Iranian nuclear deal.”
“I hope President Trump and his team make sound and sustainable decisions about radical Islamist threats emanating from Afghanistan — the place where 9/11 originated,” Graham said.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, also opposes President Trump’s peace push in Afghanistan. She implied that Trump is pushing for a “phony deal” with his current negotiating.
Accepting a phony deal that puts America’s security in the hands of the Taliban would mean conceding defeat to al Qaeda, the group responsible for killing nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. See my full statement below. https://t.co/U6Hm6BxlJa
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) August 12, 2019
However, Trump is acutely aware that he was elected to bring the troops home. His “America First” foreign policy is opposed to putting U.S. troops in harms way in order to be the policemen of the world.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
“I love our country. I’m the President of the United States of America. I’m not the president of the world,” Trump said.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is calling for President Trump to receive a Nobel Peace Prize if he pulls off this historic Afghanistan peace deal – perhaps the one that was erroneously given to former President Barack Obama.
Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize and subsequently sent 100,000 US troops to ramp up war in Afghanistan. If @realDonaldTrump ends the war, the Nobel Committee should retrieve Obama’s peace prize and give it to Trump! https://t.co/9B3ttXT8QO
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 16, 2019
With the Democrats becoming more violent and deranged by the second, it looks like Trump will be the choice for peace and prosperity that is on the ballot during next year’s general election.
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