The United States and NATO military forces can be withdrawn from Afghanistan within fourteen months. This has been announced by the American and Afghan governments in a joint statement. The US and the Taliban have, after a year and a half of negotiations, reached a basic agreement aimed at eventually achieving a peace settlement in Afghanistan.
The treaty now signed in Dubai has not been signed by the Afghan government. The intention is to initiate negotiations in Kabul between the Taliban and the Afghan government so that eventually there will be one unified Afghan administration. One of the first steps towards peace would be the withdrawal of the first 8,600 American troops within 135 days from the signing of the agreement.
UN chief António Guterres has welcomed the basic agreement between the US and the Taliban. He emphasized that the agreement must result in limiting the violence in the country. The Taliban and the US signed an agreement in Qatar intended to lead to a peace settlement for Afghanistan.
The EU has hailed the signing as "important first steps." Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Blok also described it as "a first step toward peace." US President Trump praised the signing of the basic agreement as "the beginning of the end of America's longest war."
Trump, who is not fond of foreign military interventions, is pleased with this potential success in foreign policy. In October 2001, the Americans invaded Afghanistan. They fought the Taliban, who were said to have harbored the terrorist organization al-Qaida, responsible for the September 11 attacks. Since 2001, the war in Afghanistan has resulted in the deaths of 150,000 Afghans and over 2,400 American soldiers. 1,100 NATO soldiers died as well, including 25 Dutch troops.
Dutch journalist and Afghanistan expert Bette Dam also sees the agreement now concluded as a possible start of a new era. She closely followed the negotiations in Dubai. The Americans view the Taliban as a group that has always supported al-Qaida. Many Americans say the Taliban was also involved with 9/11, but that is not the case. According to her, the Taliban is more of a pro-Western group than many believe. They have been fighting the militant and fundamentalist IS for a very long time.
The United States will now leave Afghan politics alone and will lift sanctions against Taliban leaders. The question remains how the country will be governed in the future. The current government has not signed the agreement.
"The Taliban want a purely Islamic state, an Islamic emirate," says Bette Dam. "What you often hear is that it could very well become a kind of Iran." According to Dam, it is still far too early to call the agreement 'historic.' "Much depends on whether the current Afghan government will negotiate with the Taliban. These groups are farther apart than ever."