Esper: Peace effort in Afghanistan worth risk
All-afghan talks to follow 7-day truce – if it holds Robert Burns and Matthew Lee
MUNICH – U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday that a truce agreement between the United States and the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is not without risk but “looks very promising.”
Ahead of a formal announcement of the seven-day “reduction in violence” deal, Esper said it was time to give peace a chance in Afghanistan through a political negotiation. He spoke a day after a senior U.S. official said the deal had been concluded and would take effect soon.
Expectations are that the agreement will be formally announced on Sunday and that the reduction in violence will begin on Monday, according to people familiar with the plan.
“So we have on the table right now a reduction in violence proposal that was negotiated between our ambassador and the Taliban,” Esper told an audience at the Munich Security Confererence. “It looks very promising.”
“It’s my view as well that we have to give peace a chance, that the best, if not the only, way forward in Afghanistan is through a political agreement and that means taking some risk,” he said. “That means enabling our diplomats and that means working together with our partners and allies on the ground to effect such a thing.”
Esper and Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo met on Friday in Munich with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has been skeptical of the scheme, which, if successful, would see an end to attacks for seven days and then the signing of a U.s.-taliban peace deal. Allafghan peace talks would then begin within 10 days as part of the plan, which envisions the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces over 18 months.
In remarks later to reporters, Esper declined to say whether the U.S. had agreed to cut its troop levels in Afghanistan to zero. He said that if the truce is successful and the next step begins, the U.S. would reduce its troop contingent “over time” to about 8,600 from 12,000.
The U.S. has not agreed to suspend or end its counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, said Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah.
“Under any agreement, General Miller retains the authorities necessary to protect U.S. national security interests, including the authorities and capabilities to strike ISIS-K and al-qaida,” she said, referring to U.S. Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Ghani has not yet spoken publicly about the agreement, but Esper said Ghani was supportive of the deal.
“I think he is fully on board,” Esper said of Ghani. “He wants to lead his part of the process, which if we get to that would be a a peace deal that would involve very soon afterward an inter-afghan negotiation. He wants to be clearly a full partner in that and wants to lead on that and make sure that all Afghans come together.”