Elaborating on his willingness to withdraw from Afghanistan after the Senate voted to oppose any such pullout, President Trump confirmed on Friday that “serious negotiations” are ongoing and could result in a peace deal with the US withdrawing.



Trump said that after almost 19 years in Afghanistan this is “the first time they’re talking about settling,” adding that a “tremendous amount of good things are happening.”



Officials say that there are still matters to be worked out, but reports have suggested that the two sides have already worked out a framework where the foreign troops leave and the Taliban agrees to keep ISIS and al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan. Even if that doesn’t fill in all the specifics, it is the bulk of what both sides wanted already.



Trump had previously expressed intentions to draw down the US troops in Afghanistan to about half of their current levels, though with negotiations progressing so quickly that may be on hold, pending a deal where all the troops can leave.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz