Matrix Report
According to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the US President Donald Trump has ‘guided’ his administration that the US should get troops home ‘as fast and in as large numbers as it can’ from Afghanistan. Pompeo was speaking at the American Legion’s 101st National Convention Indianapolis, Indiana. While alluding to Afghanistan during his speech, Pompeo said,
Our 18 years of military, diplomatic, and economic engagement there helped transform Afghan society, and we crushed al-Qaida. And that was our mission. Our mission there was to defeat al-Qaida, and that we shall do and that we shall continue to do. We’re proud of that record.
But the truth is America has never sought permanent military presence in Afghanistan, and all sides recognize that times move on.
So for a year and continuing today, we continue to work to clear-eyed engagement with all Afghans. We don’t know how these efforts towards peace and reconciliation will end. But President Trump is committed to make sure that we get it right.
His clear guidance to me and to my military colleagues is this: We want to get our folks home as fast and in as large numbers as we can, and we want to make sure that never again is terror struck on the United States from that soil. I believe we can and will accomplish both of these, and we will honour your labours and your sacrifices in this fight.
On the other hand, reports coming out of Doha suggest that the Taliban might finally have reached an agreement with the US over a possible date for a full foreign troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. “We have progressed in this round so we are finalizing the remaining points,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told journalists in Doha. He further said that a deal could be expected “as soon as the remaining points are finalized”.
