Trump insists Taliban wants to 'make a deal' after surge in violence in Afghanistan

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

President Trump projected confidence on Thursday about the prospect of a peace agreement in Afghanistan after a surge of violence was attributed to the Taliban in the region just days after his administration signed a deal with the insurgent group aimed at paving the way for U.S. troop withdrawal.

Trump said he believes the Taliban wants to “make a deal” and insisted that the United States needs to bring troops home from the 19-year war in Afghanistan. “These are warriors. We’ve been there for 20 years,” Trump said during a Fox News town hall in Scranton, Pa. “We could win that war very easily, but I don’t feel like killing millions of people to do it.”

The U.S. military conducted an airstrike against the Taliban on Wednesday – the first since the beginning of the reduction of violence in the region – after the Taliban carried out an attack on an Afghan military checkpoint.

Trump also spoke positively about his phone call Tuesday with Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, during which the White House said the president “emphasized the need to continue the reduction in violence” in the region. “I had a very good conversation with him,” Trump told Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier. “I believe they really want to make a deal.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/486252-trump-insists-taliban-wants-to-make-a-deal-after-surge-in-violence-in

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Trump has long promised to bring American forces home from “endless wars” and he has heralded the deal with the Taliban as a major step toward fulfilling that goal.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. thought there already was a deal.......what happened stable genius?

[left-of-center2012]

2. "what happened"

The Taliban broke the truce.

Trump wants to campaign on his ending the war.

[DENVERPOPS]

6. Just another

"Art of the Deal" self aggrandizing crock of shit from Trump. He also worked closely with North Korea to some deal, and NK immediately continued testing and launching.......

Why, in the world, does anyone give credence to something Trump says? Every single thing he has said, especially in the last decade and more emphatically in the last three is an absolute Lie. Period

[keithbvadu2]

3. The Taliban's word is just as credible as Trump's.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Double entry... Sorry

[Canoe52]

5. he is such a fucking moron, what pisses me off the most is that his followers

picked such a fucking stupid idiot to follow. I've worked for people like him and they are so out of touch with reality and so self absorbed you have to just shake your head at the ignorance and wonder how they got where they are.

You know what god thinks about money when you see the people he gives it to.

[SergeStorms]

7. So tRump was wrong about Russia, North Korea.....

and now Afghanistan (I'm sure there's others I neglected to list). What's next, "love letters" from Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar?

[GulfCoast66]

8. They do.

Here’s the deal. You leave, we stop killing you.

And frankly, I agree. I weep at the thought of abandoning all the women who have grown in confidence and prominence. But unless we want to stay for decades I see no alternative. We just cannot change a culture by force.

[sakabatou]

9. And how long until that deal is broken?