Afghanistan : US is ready for peace

It now appears that there is the willingness, from all sides, to bring peace to Afghanistan and thus bring to an end the 17-year that has brought the country to its knees.

General John Nicholson, head of NATO-led Resolute Support mission, said on Monday :
"Our secretary of state, Mr [Mike] Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces.

"We hope that they realise this and that this will help to move the peace process forward."

Replying, Sohail Shahin, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, said :
"This is what we wanted and were waiting for - to sit with the US directly and discuss the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan."

 

Shahin also said that the Taliban would be willing to discuss American concerns. However, he said as a first step he expected to see Taliban leaders removed from a United Nations blacklist in order to be able to travel. He added that the issue of international troops in Afghanistan would be a major issue.

 

It appears this would be a most auspicious time to discuss peace considering that both sides seem to be war-weary.