The United States and the Taliban signed a historic agreement on Saturday February 29 in Doha, Qatar, which should allow the 14-month withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after eighteen years of presence – the longest war in the United States – and the opening of peace negotiations with the Afghan government. It was signed after a week of "Reduction of violence" in Afghanistan, prior to the signing of the agreement.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed, shortly before the signing of the agreement, a gradual and immediate withdrawal of American troops. But the United States "Will not hesitate to cancel the agreement" if the Taliban violate it, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Doha. Talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government are set to open on March 10, said Pompeo.
Shortly before the agreement was signed, the Taliban ordered the suspension of all military operations in Afghanistan. This is the second full stop to Taliban attacks since the start of the conflict in late 2001, after a three-day ceasefire in 2018.
"If the Taliban and the Afghan government manage to honor their commitments, said Donald Trump on Friday, we will have a clear path to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our soldiers home. "
The deal must end the longest war in US history. The invasion of Afghanistan, decided by George W. Bush following the September 11, 2001 attacks, had driven the Taliban out of central power, but never succeeded in unifying the country. The United States spent more than 750 billion dollars (680 billion euros) in this war, of which nearly 2,000 GIs never returned.
An American signature postponed in September
It’s from this "Endless war" that Donald Trump wants to go out in order to "Bring the guys home", and fulfill one of his campaign promises. Negotiations, secretly launched in July 2018 between the Americans and the Taliban, were on the point of being finalized last September, before the American president canceled at the last moment a planned signature at Camp David, near Washington.
Since then, he has strongly supported his special envoy for these negotiations, the former US ambassador to Kabul Zalmay Khalilzad. "We are on the verge of a historic opportunity for peace", had assured the approach of the signature the head of the American diplomacy while a chief of the Taliban, Sirajuddin Haqqani, affirmed in the New york times than " everybody " was "Tired of war".
Despite criticism from some observers who believe it concedes too much for too little, the Trump administration assures that the anti-terrorist guarantees provided by the insurgents respond to the primary reason for the American intervention, the September 11 attacks.
At first, the Americans are expected to reduce their troops from around 13,000 soldiers today to 8,600 in the coming months – but the timing and extent of subsequent withdrawals remain more vague. Washington ensures that the withdrawal will be gradual and conditional on compliance with the Taliban's commitments.
Afghan government must follow up
Afghan authorities, kept out of the negotiations, were nevertheless involved in the agreement: the text was to provide for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners from central government prisons. In addition to the signing in Doha, the United States will hold a ceremony on Saturday with the Afghan government in Kabul, according to Afghan media.
The latter, however, dispatched a small delegation to the Qatari capital (where around thirty countries are represented). "First contact" with the Taliban. After these ceremonies, inter-Afghan negotiations should then start relatively quickly, in a city to be determined – the Norwegian capital, Oslo, has been mentioned in the past.
According to the United Nations (UN), between 32,000 and 60,000 Afghan civilians have been killed in the conflict.
