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Decision made for 'significant' troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: US official
[DAWN] United States President Donald Trump...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has decided to pull a significant number of troops from Afghanistan, a US official told AFP on Thursday, with some reports suggesting as many as 50 per cent could leave the war-torn country. The surprise move stunned and dismayed foreign diplomats and officials in Kabul who are involved in an intensifying push to end the 17-year conflict. "If you're the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... , Christmas has come early," a senior foreign official in the Afghan capital told AFP on the condition of anonymity. "Would you be thinking of a ceasefire if your main opponent has just withdrawn half their troops?" It is not clear if US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad or the Afghan government had been aware of Trump's plans. A front man for President Ashraf Ghani  ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..said "if there is any reaction by the Afghan government, we will share it later". The decision apparently came after Khalilzad met with the Taliban in Abu Dhabi this week, part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government. Posted by: Fred 2018-12-22 |
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