The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will not allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including al-Qai'da, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.
Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America
Following eighteen years of war, the Taliban and the United States have signed a historic peace agreement.
Wait.
I’m sorry.
Following eighteen years of war, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban, and the United States, have signed a historic peace agreement.
After first briefly saying that I am on the whole in favor of the agreement, from thinking it will in fact help bring some peace to Afghanistan — a nation that could use some — I think the agreement is very deeply flawed, and has a wild absurdity at its center.
In casual internet discussion about Afghanistan, people will often say that the United States was mired in a war there, with no idea of what its mission was, that the United States had no idea of why it was there.
When, in fact, the United States had a clearly stated mission in Afghanistan, which it constantly and consistently repeated in official documents and statements.
The United States was in Afghanistan to make sure that Afghanistan is never again used as safe haven for international terrorism.
The United States did have an understanding of why it continued to stay in Afghanistan long after 2001, but that mission was largely an absurdity.
The Taliban is not an international terror organization. It is a national terror organization. The targets of its terror have been the people of Afghanistan.
In eighteen years of war against the United States, the Taliban has never once brought that war to the soil of the United States.
The United States, however, some elements of its military and intelligence services, brought international terror there. And the United States has created and supported elements of the Afghan military and intelligence services that conduct terror campaigns against the people of Afghanistan.
From the American point of view, the main organization, currently, to be concerned about their potential for conducting international terror, is the one known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province.
And apparently, from the text of the peace agreement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will send a clear message to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province, which is not recognized as a state by the United States and is known as ISKP, that ISKP has no place in Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will send a clear message that those who pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies have no place in Afghanistan, and will instruct members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies.
I apologize, a bit, for taking a light tone about this, but the Taliban has been trying to send a message to ISKP that it has no place in Afghanistan, really, because the Taliban is at war with ISKP and is trying to dislodge it, same as the United States has been doing.
Taliban spokesmen have often pointed out the absurdity in the United States position, that they are required to guarantee something that they cannot possibly guarantee.
This all has been to very great consequence.
The absurd face saving language for the United States, about its mission, is very frequently repeated in the text of the agreement. The parallel absurd face saving measure for the Taliban, and their self-proclaimed legitimacy as an Islamic Emirate, is certainly not. The document is hard to read for the piles of “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban” it is buried under.
This took very strong negotiating pressure from the United States. This took a great giving up on, a great bargaining away, of other goals.
I again apologize for the light tone, maybe more strongly this time. But as an example of something we might have insisted on, giving up on the absurd face- saving language in bargaining return for it, is guarantees in the agreement for the rights of women in Afghanistan.