U.S. Reaches Agreement With Taliban - Eventually Possible Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Tristan Justice reporting for The Federalist

The United States reached an agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan that U.S. officials said will likely be implemented “very soon” and could lead to American forces leaving the war-torn country.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, senior officials in the Trump administration told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Friday that the truce between the two groups will feature a dramatic reduction in violence for at least seven days while Taliban leaders negotiate with U.S. officials, potentially leading to a massive troop withdrawal.

Officials argued the weeklong armistice, the Beacon reports, “will pave the way for comprehensive talks on a peace agreement that could finally end the nearly two-decade-long war.”

Taliban leaders, who have historically rejected President Donald Trump’s past attempts for talks “want an agreement,” one administration official told the Free Beacon. “They will support those arrangements for the rest of Afghanistan.”

The United States would meanwhile maintain a monitoring presence in the Middle Eastern country.

“If we see something we should be able to determine and if we can’t determine, we raise questions,” the administration official told the Washington-based paper. “We will not allow Afghanistan to become a threat to the United States again.”

Trump campaigned on a promise to withdraw troops from Afghanistan but has been met with resistance by previous advisors in the White House.

According to the Associated Press, a Taliban official engaged with the United States in peace talks said a second agreement could be signed on Feb. 29 to follow the “reduction in violence agreement,” that would initiate further negotiations. Inner-Afghan dialogue would begin on March 10, the Taliban official added, explaining that foreign troops would begin to gradually exit the over a period of 18 months.