Peace Agreement between US and Taliban

The text of the agreement is found at the State Department website, https://www.state.gov/agreement-for-bringing-peace-to-afghanistan/#.Xlpr9-JuAQw.twitter and is titled "Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan."

The text of the agreement can be found at https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Agreement-For-Bringing-Peace-to-Afghanistan-02.29.20.pdf

The relevant portions of the agreement are quoted below:

PART ONE

The United States is committed to withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel within fourteen (14) months following announcement of this agreement, and will take the following measures in this regard:

II A. The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will take the following measures in the first one hundred thirty-five (135) days:

1) They will reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to eight thousand six hundred (8,600) and proportionally bring reduction in the number of its allies and Coalition forces.

2) The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from five (5) military bases.

B. With the commitment and action on the obligations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban in Part Two of this agreement, the United States, its allies, and the Coalition will execute the following:

1) The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will complete withdrawal of all remaining forces from Afghanistan within the remaining nine and a half (9.5) months.

2) The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from remaining bases

Of course, this agreement doesn't guarantee that peace will come to Afghanistan and that all U.S. troops will be withdrawn. But it's a good start, just like the agreement between North Korea and the US in 2018 at the Singapore Summit, which significantly reduced tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

IMHO those who criticize this agreement are haters and warmongers. Recall that certain media outlets castigated the agreement with North Korea, calling it a sham and that the US had made an agreement with a leader (Kin Jong Un) with a poor human rights record. This criticism was silly because North Korea, as everyone knows, is a proxy state of China. When President Xi sneezes, Kim Jong Un has to cover his head. (It is interesting that since the summer of 2019, when China had its outbreak of "swine flu" that resulted in the destruction of half of the country's pig population, and soon after that the outbreak of coronavirus, no saber-rattling from North Korea has been heard. Perhaps Xi and the CCP have more urgent things to attend to.)

Trump is the most unlikely of peacemakers, most likely because he's a businessman and not a politician. He sees an opportunity to save money by getting our troops out of a country known for its internecine warfare between competing Afghan factions. It's about time! This war has gone on for over 18 years and the expenditure of over a trillion dollars.

I don't care whether Trump has his heart in the right place or not. Reducing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in Afghanistan are important advancements for world peace.

It remains to be seen whether haters and warmongers will sabotage the Taliban agreement. But it's a good first step.