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The real reason the Taliban photo op was cancelled
GDS
Member Posts: 1,470
in Tug Tavern
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k3wb/trump-just-blew-up-a-peace-deal-with-the-taliban-because-they-wouldnt-let-him-take-all-the-credit
However, U.S. officials told the New York Times that the meeting was canceled abruptly because the Taliban balked at Trump’s desire for a made-for-TV moment that would make it look like he finalized the peace deal at Camp David. The Taliban had wanted the deal signed before they traveled to the U.S., so that the Camp David meeting would a celebration of the agreement.
The U.S. and the Taliban had in fact finalized a deal “in principle” last week, after nine rounds of delicate negotiations in Qatar that began last October. The deal would have seen more than 5,000 U.S. troops leave Afghanistan by early next year, and was announced by Zalmay Khalilzad, the top U.S. negotiator in Afghanistan — moments after the Taliban carried out a suicide attack in Kabul last Tuesday, killing 16 people and wounding 100.
While Trump had pushed hard for the summit, officials told NBC it was fiercely opposed by a faction within the administration that was led by National Security Adviser John Bolton, who didn’t believe the Taliban could be trusted. Bolton was reportedly backed up by Vice President Mike Pence.
However, U.S. officials told the New York Times that the meeting was canceled abruptly because the Taliban balked at Trump’s desire for a made-for-TV moment that would make it look like he finalized the peace deal at Camp David. The Taliban had wanted the deal signed before they traveled to the U.S., so that the Camp David meeting would a celebration of the agreement.
The U.S. and the Taliban had in fact finalized a deal “in principle” last week, after nine rounds of delicate negotiations in Qatar that began last October. The deal would have seen more than 5,000 U.S. troops leave Afghanistan by early next year, and was announced by Zalmay Khalilzad, the top U.S. negotiator in Afghanistan — moments after the Taliban carried out a suicide attack in Kabul last Tuesday, killing 16 people and wounding 100.
While Trump had pushed hard for the summit, officials told NBC it was fiercely opposed by a faction within the administration that was led by National Security Adviser John Bolton, who didn’t believe the Taliban could be trusted. Bolton was reportedly backed up by Vice President Mike Pence.
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"They're dead. They're dead. As far as I'm concerned, they're dead," he said.
The president made the comments to reporters as he departed the White House to board Marine One.
Over the weekend, the president said he had intended to hold a secret meeting Sunday with Taliban representatives at Camp David, but called it off due to the Taliban’s role in a deadly bombing in Kabul last week that resulted in the death of a U.S. soldier.
“They thought they had to kill people in order to put them in a little better negotiating position,” Trump said Monday.
He added: “You can’t do that. You can’t do that with me.”
Trump wants to start withdrawing thousands of the remaining 13,000 to 14,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan and eventually end U.S. involvement in the conflict that is closing in on 18 years.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the Trump administration's diplomat talking to the Taliban leaders for months, has said recently that he was on the "threshold" of an agreement with the Taliban aimed at ending America's longest war. The president, however, has been under pressure from the Afghan government and some lawmakers, including Trump supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who mistrust the Taliban and think it's too early to withdraw American forces.
On Thursday, a Taliban car bomb exploded and killed an American soldier, a Romanian service member and 10 civilians in a busy diplomatic area near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The bombing was one of many attacks by the Taliban in recent days during U.S.-Taliban talks.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the Taliban “overreached” and showed that they cannot be trusted to move forward with a peace process at this point in time.
“What they did here was they tried to use terror to improve their negotiating position,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
The Deep State gets what the Deep State wants
@PurpleBaze
Trump puts US in better “negotiating position”.😁
Taliban leader Mullah Idress killed in airstrike, 36 other terrorists dead
https://www.sify.com/news/taliban-leader-mullah-idress-killed-in-airstrike-36-other-terrorists-dead-news-international-tjktvDabjebhi.html