This post follows the old TV show “Dragnet” script when
Police Sgt. Joe Friday used to say to a witness: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
History & Introduction (February 29, 2020) (the facts): After a
week-long reduction in violence, the U.S. and the Taliban signed
a historic agreement which sets into motion the potential of a full withdrawal
of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and could pave the way to ending America's
longest-fought war.
The agreement was signed
in Doha, Qatar, by U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation
Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief U.S. negotiator in the talks with Mullah Abdul
Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's chief negotiator.
Former Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo witnessed the signing. Once again: NO ONE was invited there from the Afghan
government: None, nada, nil, zip, zero, goose egg.
The “Agreement for
Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” outlined a series of commitments from the
U.S. and the Taliban related to troop levels, counterterrorism, and the
intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about “a permanent and comprehensive
ceasefire.”
Important to keep in
mind leading up to that is this trail of events:
The historical background is here
from Yahoo news from the former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan,
Ryan Crocker, with this headline:
“Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan
blames the Taliban surge on Trump delegitimizing the Afghan government”
Key Story Main
Points:
1. Trump planned to meet with the Afghan
president & Taliban leaders at Camp David in 2019.
2. Shortly
after that announcement, Trump called off the talks saying he canceled it after
the Taliban took credit for a deadly attack in Kabul that killed one U.S.
service member.
3. The Doha agreement
came after another year of negotiations.
4. The two
sides reached “an agreement in principle” early September 2019.
5. In a
November 2019 visit to Afghanistan, Trump announced that the talks had
restarted shortly after the Taliban released an American and Australian
professor in exchange for the release of three Taliban prisoners by the Afghan
government.
6. In December 2019, the State Department announced that Zalmay Khalilzad, as the U.S. Envoy, had rejoined talks with the Taliban in the Qatar scheduled for February of 2020, where both sides signed a peace agreement.
Again,
absent were any representatives of the Afghan government.
Ever since then, however, members of Congress & regional
experts have raised concerns. For example, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) led a group
of 21 other Republicans in expressing some serious concerns about the
anticipated agreement.
Details of that
Agreement: It was signed in Doha by the U.S. Special Representative
for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad the chief U.S. negotiator
in the talks, with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's chief negotiator.
All that above cannot denied, but this GOP simply ignores
even mentioning it, let alone admitting it happened that way.
Case in point is a sample
of the GOP hypocrisy reported on here
from The Hill with this headline:
“McConnell slams Biden's “botched exit” from
Afghanistan”
The Taliban seized Kabul Sunday (August 15), marking a
harrowing turning point in their military offensive in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Asraf Ghani fled the country Sunday
(August 15) morning, and the U.S. is pulling out all personnel from the embassy in Kabul.
The escalating situation comes as the U.S. inches closer to
completing its withdrawal mission from Afghanistan, which President Biden
previously said is set to finish at the end of this month.
Highlights from McConnell and other Republicans who went on the offensive blasting
Biden hitting the Sunday show circuit. As noted, McConnell slammed President Biden's
“botched exit” from Afghanistan after the Taliban entered the capital city of
Kabul, having already taken control of the rest of the country in his
statement:
“The Biden Administration's botched exit from Afghanistan
including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul
is a shameful failure of American leadership. The sharp criticism from
McConnell comes after previous statement from the minority leader calling on
the Biden administration to do more amid the advances by the Taliban. While the
U.S. still has the capacity to dampen its effects, a presence on the ground is
needed to do so. It did not have to happen this way. The United States had the
capacity to avoid this disaster. We still have the capacity to dampen its
effects, but without a presence on the ground or local partners, defending the
homeland from a resurgent al Qaeda will be far more difficult. The likely hood
of al-Qaeda returning to plot attacks from Afghanistan is growing. Everyone saw
this coming except the President, who publicly and confidently dismissed these
threats just a few weeks ago. The strategic, humanitarian, and moral
consequences of this self-inflicted wound will hurt our country and distract
from other challenges for years to come.”
Note: McConnell previously called on Biden to commit
to sending more troops back into Afghanistan after
August 31. That was the Biden target date for pulling all U.S. troops from the
region. McConnell then urged the president to begin conducting
airstrikes against the
Taliban in support of the Afghan forces.
Recall that Mr. Biden announced in April that he would pull all troops from the country following a deal
with the Taliban, brokered by Trump (with the details above) to withdraw military
personnel from the region, and once again
I note: Without any input from the Afghan government.
A number of other key GOP lawmakers also are placing the blame
for the deteriorating state of affairs in Afghanistan on Biden.
Examples:
1. GOP House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) compared
images of Chinooks over Kabul evacuating embassy staff in the capital city to
America's exit from Vietnam, calling that “President Biden's Saigon moment.”
2. GOP Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), ranking member of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Biden is “Gonna have blood on his hands” for the withdrawal mission.
My 2 cents: What conclusion would anyone in the Afghan government
reach if they were a NOT party to the agreement described above, which BTW now
impacts their entire country.
Everything since the Afghan government was cut out of the negotiations now shows it favors the Taliban. Today proves that point.
Look at the results they have achieved in a
very short time, which they couldn’t accomplish in the past many years. Their patience
apparently has paid off in spades. They now have control of the entire country
as the Afghan president has fled the country into exile.
Yet, the GOP ups the ante by blaming Joe Biden… which by any stretch lays squarely with
Trump based on the facts outlined above, which I hear no MSN even addressing.
And, just how pitiful is this GOP? Words cannot describe how truly pitiful they are. Yet there is still a long way to go – we face 2022 and voting rights that seems to favor them, but who even knows.
Folks, the rational, logical thing to do is get the public fired up
and in tune to protect our rights that this GOP blames on DEMS when all the
while, it is they who are culprits and that cannot be denied nor expressed any clearer
than what this post and facts above clearly shows.
My original related post is
here, followed by this one here
& also here
– they help paint the full picture of this mess.
Thanks for stopping by.
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