国内新闻翻译

US media: a major change in US policy toward Afghanistan will seek direct negotiations with Taliban.


[compiler / observer network Horse Snow]

U. S. “New York Times” 15 daily said that US President Trent has instructed senior diplomats to seek “direct negotiations” with the Afghan Taliban organization, a major shift in the US policy on Afghanistan, reflecting Trump’s determination to end the 17 years of war in Afghanistan.

A screenshot of the New York Times Report

Reported that the strategic transformation of the United States has been confirmed by some senior officials in the United States and Afghanistan. Some US officials have recently visited Afghanistan and Pakistan, hoping to pave the way for direct negotiations between the United States and Taliban.

According to Reuters news, 16, the commander in Afghanistan, John Nicholson, in southern Afghanistan, Kandaha and Afghan government officials, tribal elders also held a meeting.

“Our Secretary of state, Mr. Pompeio, said that he was ready to have a direct dialogue with Taliban, Afghanistan. We hope that they will realize this, and this will push the peace process in Afghanistan. “

Reuters report screenshot

In response to this, a spokesman for Taliban Sohail (Sohail Shahin) said that it was still waiting for further accurate news, but welcomed the new progress:

“It is our long-standing expectation to have a direct dialogue with the United States and discuss the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.”

Shaheen said the first step is to remove Taliban’s leaders from the United Nations sanctions blacklist to facilitate travel.

On May 19th, John Nicholson, commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, visited Afghanistan’s Fala province with Afghan officials. (source: visual China)

In March 26th this year, the Afghan Taliban Organization issued a statement calling for a direct dialogue with the United States and ending the protracted war with “peaceful means”.

But the United States has always been able to talk with Taliban, but the Afghan government must also be brought to the negotiating table.

The New York Times reported that the United States and Afghan officials are becoming more and more common: the only way to start the peace process and to agree on the strategy to end the war is “the United States plays a more direct role in the negotiations”.

Since Taliban has never made concessions to direct negotiations with the United States, the current Afghan government, without the help of the United States, will be difficult to lead a coordinated peace process in all aspects.

Some Afghan officials believe that negotiations between the United States and Taliban may eventually evolve into negotiations involving the United States, the Taliban organization, the Afghan government and the Pakistan.

The New York Times said that the date of direct negotiations was uncertain and that peace efforts could still change, but the changes in the US strategy showed the Trump administration ‘sense of urgency for “breaking the deadlock in Afghanistan”.

Shortly after Trump came to power, Trump reluctantly approved more resources for US commanders to fight against the U. S. forces, including increasing the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 15 thousand, but the situation did not improve a year later.

According to the data provided by the special inspector general’s office in Afghanistan, in the 407 Afghan areas, the Afghan government forces currently control 229 districts, Taliban controls 59 districts, and the remaining 119 areas are in a state of glue.

US officials told Reuters that Trump was becoming increasingly impatient with the slow progress of Afghanistan. The New York Times also mentioned that at last week’s NATO summit, a reporter referred to the problem of “people tired of” the war in Afghanistan. Trump responded by saying:

“Yes. I agree very much. It has lasted for too long, and we have made some progress, but it has lasted for a long time. “

Trump’s assistant for national security last month decided to provide more power to American diplomats as one of the efforts to end the war.

In addition, these efforts include a rare cease-fire last month, and the United States put pressure on Pakistan to stop providing asylum to only Taliban leaders. The grass-roots peace movement in the region has also increased pressure on all sides.

The report said last week, Secretary of state Pompeio (Mike Pompeo) briefly visited Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and the U. S. State Department’s deputy assistant director Alice Welles (Alice G. Wells) had a few days of talks with major participants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

On July 9th local time, Peng Pao suddenly visited Afghanistan and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. (source: visual China)

The New York Times said neither the State Department nor the Taliban spokesperson would comment on policy changes.

A few days ago, Pompeio said in a statement that there would be no precondition for the negotiations, including the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and everything would be discussed.

Welles pointed out:

“I think Secretary of state Pompeio is very clear that we are ready to provide convenience, support and participation, so nothing can stop us from contacting Taliban in this way.

But the Afghan government will not rule out this, which is a crucial distinction. We are doing everything we can to ensure that the Afghan Taliban organization and the Afghan government can be drawn to a table. “

Root (Douglas Lute), a former NATO ambassador to the past two U.S. presidents, expressed support for the Trump administration’s shift, saying, “we are now in a diplomatic deadlock,” and “we should look for an innovative way to push the situation forward.”

The New York Times said that the focus now is whether negotiations are feasible. Even if the talks start again, many observers think it will be difficult.

Seth Jones (Seth Jones), head of the multinational threat project at the Washington Center for strategic and international research, says there is little evidence that senior Afghan leaders are interested in the solutions proposed by the Afghan government and American officials.

Jones pointed out:

“Most of the Taliban leaders think they are winning the war in Afghanistan, and the time is on them.”

The former Deputy Defense Minister David Sedney, who had dealt with Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Pakistan offered asylum for the leaders of the Islamic armed forces, and the progress in Afghanistan and the dialogue with Taliban would be closely linked to Pakistan’s pressure.

The latest report released by the United Nations on 15 shows the serious reality of Afghanistan at present.

In Afghanistan, nearly 1700 people were killed in the first half of 2018. The United Nations believes that this is the worst period in the last 10 years of the security situation. The total number of accidental deaths and injuries was 5122, of which 1692 were killed and 3430 were injured.

Compared with the same period last year, the death toll increased by 1 percentage points, the highest in the first half of the year since 2009.

In addition, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Manua) also noted that air bombing by Afghan authorities and American soldiers in the East and the North caused an increase in the number of civilian deaths. In the first half of the year, 149 people were killed and 200 were injured, up 50% over the same period last year.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan once again appealed to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to protect civilians and work together to achieve a peaceful consensus at an early date.

This article is an exclusive manuscript of observer network. It can not be reproduced without authorization.