U.S. and Taliban Sign Agreement to End the Longest American War
Posted on 02/29/2020
In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan after Osama bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda, masterminded the September 11th terrorist attacks using hijacked airplanes that slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, as well as the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The 9/11 onslaught resulted in the deaths of around 2,977 civilians in the United States, prompting the U.S. government to take a tougher stance on Islamic terrorist groups and the countries that harbored and supported them.
After 18 years of fighting, in Doha, the U.S. government signed an agreement to end its war in Afghanistan that has spanned 3 U.S. presidential administrations – George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Under Bush, the U.S. government installed a government in Afghanistan and quelled down Taliban forces. However, Obama took a different approach and gave a timetable of withdrawal, enabling the Taliban to gain more control and political power. In 2015, there was a Taliban resurgence.
Some current U.S. troops in Afghanistan were even born before the war started in 2001. The war in Afghanistan has cost the lives of around 2,300 U.S. troops and wounded many thousands of others, not to mention an estimated price tag of US$ 2 trillion.
The plan is “subject to the Taliban’s fulfillment of its commitments under the US-Taliban agreement.” The agreement entails the U.S. agreeing to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan within 14 months and pull out of five bases in 135 days. A complete exit of U.S. forces would depend on the Taliban meeting commitments to prevent terrorism. The U.S. has around 13,000 troops in Afghanistan. The Taliban pledged to enter into peace talks with Afghan government officials, representatives of the opposition, and members of civil society on March 10, 2020.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar of the Taliban signed the agreement.
“The Taliban will not allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including Al Qaeda, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies,” the agreement states.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the ceremony in Doha, but did not sign the “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan.”