US-Taliban deal unlikely to restore peace

US President Donald Trump's plan to end the costly war in Afghanistan by making a deal with the Taliban is unlikely to succeed in restoring peace in the country. 

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 under the pretext of the so-called war against terror, overthrowing the Taliban regime that had ruled over the country till then.

Since the US invasion of Afghanistan, Washington has spent more than $2 trillion waging war on the impoverished country, leaving more than 2,400 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians dead.

Now, with the 2020 presidential election around the corner, Trump, who has failed in all his international efforts till now, says it is time to end the unpopular war in Afghanistan and bring the US troops stationed there home.

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Political analysts believe Trump’s latest move, which is doomed to fail like all the other policies he pursued in the Middle East, serves two purposes for him.

First, by signing a peace deal with the Taliban Trump aims to score a major foreign policy success that could boost his chances for re-election.

Second, by choosing a new approach in Afghanistan Trump aims to gradually take home more spoils from the longest war that US forces have ever fought.

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Unlikely deal

The US deal with the Taliban apparently aims to end the almost two-decade war in Afghanistan. US forces agreed to begin the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, and in return, the Taliban is assuring it will not house terrorists with intentions of attacking the US forces on Afghan soil. The US says even if the Taliban stick to their end of the deal, the American troops promise to pullout of Afghanistan could take years.

However, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is a close Trump ally as well as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he suspected the deal to fail. 

“I am very suspect of the Taliban ever accepting the Afghan constitution and honoring the rights of religious minorities and women,” Graham warned in a statement on Saturday. “Time will tell."

Reuters quoted a British expert saying that the deal was unlikely. "The Taliban basically just want the US out and promise things that don't come to fruition to get that," said a British government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pompeo in Doha to sign troop withdrawal with Taliban

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Doha to witness a US troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban that could end the war in Afghanistan.

In the meantime, many believe that whether the deal works out or not, the culmination of the US war on Afghanistan has been a devastating human and economic loss for the Afghan nation, as well as a huge waste of American tax payers money and US soldiers lives.

So, who gets the spoil of the war? The only victor of all US wars across the world has been the US military-industrial complex, which growth and expansion depends on a continuation of global conflicts which create a stable demand to manufacture more weapons.

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