BAGRAM, Afghanistan, Nov 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump said
Thursday the US had resumed talks with Taliban insurgents as he made a
surprise trip to Afghanistan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with
troops.
On a brief visit to Bagram Airfield outside the capital Kabul, Trump served
turkey dinner to soldiers, posed for photographs and delivered a speech after
meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we’re meeting with them and we’re
saying it has to be a ceasefire,” he told reporters.
About 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, 18 years after the United
States invaded after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Trump said he planned to
reduce the number to 8,600 without giving further details.
“There’s nowhere I’d rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here
with the toughest, strongest, best and bravest warriors on the face of the
earth,” the president, who was making his first trip to the war-torn country,
told the troops.
“I’ve just come from serving Thanksgiving dinner to some of you… and we
had a good time.”
Trump joked that he had just started eating when he was called away, and
didn’t even get to taste his turkey.
“I should’ve started with that, instead of the mashed potatoes,” he said.
“But I hope everyone enjoyed the fantastic meal, it certainly did look good
and hopefully everyone can get some well-deserved rest this holiday.”
– America’s longest war –
The United States earlier this year reached a deal with Taliban insurgents
to pull US troops from Afghanistan and wind down America’s longest war in
return for security guarantees.
But Trump made a shock move in September, describing the year-long talks as
“dead” and withdrawing an invitation to the insurgents to meet near
Washington due to the killing of a US soldier.
The Taliban refuses to negotiate formally with the Afghan government,
though diplomatic efforts have continued to foster dialogue and an eventual
peace deal.
Trump said Thursday the war in Afghanistan “will not be decided on the
battlefield” and that “ultimately there will need to be a political solution”
decided by people in the region.
The US president has often vowed to pull out of the US’s “endless wars,”
and he is keen to withdraw many troops from Afghanistan ahead of the November
2020 election when he faces a tough battle to win a second term.
Afghanistan remains roiled by violence, and US presidents are still only
able to make fleeting, unannounced visits to Bagram — the biggest US base in
the country — due to the security threat.
Ghani, who was only given a few hours’ notice about the visit, thanked
Trump for pushing for “the type of peace that will ensure the gains of the
past year and ensure your security and our security.”
The Taliban last week handed over two hostages — an American and an
Australian — after three years in captivity in exchange for three high-
ranking insurgent prisoners, a move seen as a boost to peace talks.
– Friction with US military leaders –
Back in Washington, Trump’s relations with the US military leadership have
recently soured over his repeated interference in high-profile discipline
cases.
Trump reversed the demotion of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher who was accused
of war crimes but only found guilty of a lesser offense.
Gallagher’s cause had been championed by Fox News and Trump’s conservative
base.
The case drew sharp criticism from the top brass concerned that the
president was undermining military judicial process.
Trump this month also dismissed a murder conviction against a soldier who
ordered his men to fire on three unarmed Afghans in 2012.
And he granted clemency to another soldier charged with murder over the
death of an alleged Taliban bomb-maker in 2010.
Before taking the secret 13-hour flight to Afghanistan, Trump had been
expected to spend Thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and to
make video calls to US troops deployed abroad.
The White House scheduled tweets that were sent from the president’s
account during the flight when he did not have access to the internet.