Historic peace deal in Afghanistan reached with Taliban, allowing withdrawal of US troops

WASHINGTON – U.S. and Taliban negotiators signed an historic agreementSaturday in Qatar that could end 19 years of war in Afghanistan and allow President Donald Trump to begin the promised withdrawal of American troops. 

The four-page pact spells out a timetable for the United States to withdraw its 13,000 troops from Afghanistan; in exchange, the Taliban agreed to sever its ties with al Qaeda, the terrorist group that launched the Sept. 11 attacks against the U.S.

“Everybody’s tired of war,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It’s been a very long journey. It’s been a hard journey for everybody."

The agreementsets the stage for further negotiations between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban, a militant Islamist group that once ruled Afghanistan and provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden. American officials hope those talks will lead to a power-sharing deal, a permanent end to the bloody conflict, and a full withdrawal of American forces.

However, a permanent peace – and an end to America's longest war – rests on a commitment by the Taliban, a fractious insurgency, to end its deadly attacks on U.S. forces and to renounce its ties to al Qaeda.

"If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," the president said in a statement released ahead of Saturday's signing ceremony in Doha. 

Zalmay Khalilzad, the top U.S. negotiator for Afghanistan, signed the pact as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looked on. In remarks at the ceremony, Pompeo said the deal was based on the reality that the conflict was militarily unwinnable without a massive deployment of additional U.S. forces. The Taliban also saw the war as a lost cause, he noted. 

"This is a hopeful moment, but it's only the beginning," Pompeo said. “There's a great deal of hard work ahead."

In the coming weeks, the United States will begin a phased withdrawal from Afghanistan, reducing its forces from 13,000 troops to 8,600. Pompeo said the remaining U.S. troops will serve as leverage to ensure the Taliban lives up to its promises.

In Kabul, Defense Secretary Mark Esper echoed that message – saying the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition troops would be based on the Taliban reining in its fighters. 

"Should the Taliban fail to honor their commitments, they will forfeit their chance to sit with fellow Afghans and deliberate on the future of their country. Moreover, the United States would not hesitate to nullify the agreement," Esper said in prepared remarks.

If the Taliban fulfills its commitments to renounce al Qaeda and begin intra-Afghan talks, the U.S. agreed to a complete withdrawal of all remaining American forces from Afghanistan within 10 months. The U.S. also agreed to immediately facilitate a controversial prisoner exchange, under which up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government could be released. The Taliban would free as many as 1,000 prisoners, as demanded by the Afghan government.

Trump said he expected withdrawals to begin immediately.

"If bad things happen, we’ll go back," Trump said. "We'll go back with a force like nobody’s ever seen."

The president, speaking at a press conference primarily focused on the coronavirus, announced he would soon be meeting with Taliban leaders. He declined to provide additional information about where or when that meeting would take place.

The U.S.-Taliban deal, crafted during painstaking, on-again-off-again negotiations that began in 2018, was finalized after seven days of reduced violence, a confidence-building measure both sides undertook as a prerequisite to inking a peace agreement.  

Saturday's announcement comes with many caveats. In September, negotiators hailed a breakthrough in talks only to see hope for peace dissipate and violence continue. A withdrawal of American troops also would likely take several months. 

"It's not like ... this will bring flowers and roses and doves overnight," said a senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. 

The next step will be even more challenging: getting the Taliban and the Afghan government – bitter opponents with sharply divergent views about the future of their country – to hammer out a peace agreement in a country riven by tribal factions, devastated by war, and overrun with criminal and terrorist elements.

Those talks are expected to begin is Oslo within 10 days, but neither side has designated negotiators yet. And the Afghan government, backed by the U.S., is in the midst of a political crisis, with two leaders proclaiming victory in the country's September election. 

The reduction in violence is supposed to continue as the intra-Afghan talks proceed, and the U.S. is hoping to secure a complete cease-fire in Afghanistan as one of the first elements of those talks.