U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says a truce agreement between the United States and the Taliban that could lead to the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is not without risk.
Ahead of a formal announcement of the seven-day"reduction in violence" deal, Esper said it was time to give peace a chance inthrough a political negotiation. He spoke a day after a senior U.S. official said the deal had been concluded and would take effect very soon.
“It's my view as well that we have to give peace a chance, that the best if not the only way forward in Afghanistan is through a political agreement and that means taking some risk,” he said."That means enabling our diplomats and that means working together with our partners and allies on the ground to affect such a thing.”
The U.S. has not agreed to suspend or end its counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, which have been focused mainly on an Islamic State affiliate, known as ISIS-K, and al-Qaida, said Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah, who was traveling with Esper. “I think he is fully on board,” Esper said of Ghani. “He wants to lead his part of the process, which if we get to that would be a a peace deal that would involve very soon afterward an inter-Afghan negotiation. He wants to be clearly a full partner in that and wants to lead on that and make sure that all Afghans come together."
“We are not leaving Afghanistan but we are prepared to adjust our force level if the Taliban demonstrates the will and the capability to reduce violence and make real compromises that could pave the way for negotiations among Afghans for sustainable peace," he said.
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