FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Contact: Ben Armbruster [email protected] 202-247-7133



WASHINGTON — Win Without War Executive Director Stephen Miles released the following statement in response to reports that Donald Trump cancelled a deal with the Taliban to withdraw most U.S. troops from Afghanistan:

“Donald Trump continues to operate as a one man threat to global security. Just days after American and Taliban negotiators reportedly finalized a deal that would mark a major step toward building peace in Afghanistan, Trump inserted himself into the process by inviting Taliban and Afghan officials to Camp David in order to give the false appearance that he was the one who negotiated the agreement.

“But Trump’s reckless vanity project actually served as a catalyst to scuttle the reported deal, and more importantly, to prolong needless violence and death in a country that has endured four decades of conflict.

“The reality is that a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is just the beginning of a longer Afghan-led peace process that requires a stronger and broader U.S. commitment to diplomacy, including engaging all parties of the conflict and the international community, not embracing more bloodshed.

“The problem with the Trump administration’s approach isn’t negotiating with the Taliban, it’s the president’s reckless behavior in the service of himself that fans the flames of his chaos-first foreign policy. This latest incident adds to the pile of evidence that Trump isn’t the dealmaker he claims to be.

“Going forward, it remains long past time for U.S. troops to come home from a conflict that has no military solution, and for the U.S. to support and invest in a wider peace process so that the people of Afghanistan can finally live without fear of insecurity and death.”

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.

