WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The Trump administration wants to bring troops home from Afghanistan—immediately. But the peace plan signed over the weekend with the Taliban already appears to be in trouble.
State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus says despite a shaky start to the Afghan peace plan the Administration still believes thousands of US troops should be coming home in the next few months.
“President Trump is committed to bringing our troops home and we are delivering on that promise,” Ortagus said.
But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says after 18 years of war this peace plan is the best chance for peace in a generation but knows challenges do await.
“We know that the road ahead will be difficult,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department.
And it has been difficult with the ink on the US-Taliban peace agreement still drying. The U.S. on Wednesday carried out an airstrike against the Taliban after the Taliban attacked Afghan forces.
In the first 135 days of the deal, the US plans to reduce its’ forces from 13,000 to 8,600.
On Saturday, the President told Kellie Meyer he wants the troops home ASAP.
Kellie Meyer: “How soon do you expect troops to be coming back?”
President Trump “Uh, like today, okay. Today, they’ll start immediately.”
Virginia Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) supports the peace plan but worries that the President might be moving too fast.
“For the military families, we need to bring them home,” Warner said. “There is a way to get out of these conflicts that can promote the stability for the Afghan people and not put that country back under the control of the Taliban.”
Pompeo is calling on both sides…the Taliban and the Afghan government to live up to the new agreement and work for peace.
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