US, Taliban sign deal aimed at ending war in Afghanistan

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The United States signed a peace agreement with Taliban militants on Saturday aimed at bringing an end to 18 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan and allowing U.S. troops to return home from America’s longest war.

Under the agreement, the U.S. would draw its forces down to 8,600 from 13,000 in the next 3-4 months, with the remaining U.S. forces withdrawing in 14 months. The complete pullout, however, would depend on the Taliban meeting their commitments to prevent terrorism.

President George W. Bush ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Some U.S. troops currently serving there had not yet been born when the World Trade Center collapsed on that crisp, sunny morning that changed how Americans see the world.

It only took a few months to topple the Taliban and send Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida militants scrambling across the border into Pakistan, but the war dragged on for years as the United States tried establish a stable, functioning state in one of the least developed countries in the world. The Taliban regrouped, and currently hold sway over half the country.

The U.S. spent more than $750 billion, and on all sides the war cost tens of thousands of lives lost, permanently scarred and indelibly interrupted. But the conflict was also frequently ignored by U.S. politicians and the American public.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the ceremony in Qatar, where the Taliban have a political office, but did not sign the agreement. Instead, it was signed by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The Taliban harbored bin Laden and his al-Qaida network as they plotted, and then celebrated, the hijackings of four airliners that were crashed into lower Manhattan, the Pentagon and a field in western Pennsylvania, killing almost 3,000 people.

Addressing reporters after the signing ceremony, Pompeo said the U.S. is “realistic” about the peace deal it signed, but is “seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation.”

He said he was still angry about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and that the U.S. will not ”squander” what its soldiers “have won through blood, sweat and tears.” He said the U.S. will do whatever is necessary for its security if the Taliban do not comply with the agreement.

Pompeo had privately told a conference of U.S. ambassadors at the State Department this week that he was going only because President Donald Trump had insisted on his participation, according to two people present.

Dozens of Taliban members had earlier held a small victory march in Qatar in which they waved the militant group’s white flags, according to a video shared on Taliban websites. “Today is the day of victory, which has come with the help of Allah,” said Abbas Stanikzai, one of the Taliban’s lead negotiators, who joined the march.

Trump has repeatedly promised to get the U.S. out of its “endless wars” in the Middle East, and the withdrawal of troops could provide a boost as he seeks re-election in a nation weary of involvement in distant conflicts.

Trump has approached the Taliban agreement cautiously, steering clear of the crowing surrounding other major foreign policy actions, such as his talks with North Korea.

Last September, on short notice, he called off what was to be a signing ceremony with the Taliban at Camp David after a series of new Taliban attacks. But he has since been supportive of the talks led by his special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad.

Under the agreement, the Taliban promise not to let extremists use the country as a staging ground for attacking the U.S. or its allies. But U.S. officials are loath to trust the Taliban to fulfill their obligations.

The prospects for Afghanistan’s future are uncertain. The agreement sets the stage for peace talks involving Afghan factions, which are likely to be complicated. Under the agreement, 5,000 Taliban are to be released from Afghan-run jails, but it’s not known if the Afghan government will do that. There are also questions about whether Taliban fighters loyal to various warlords will be willing to disarm.

U.S. officials say the eventual withdrawal of all American and allied troops from Afghanistan is not contingent on any specific outcome in talks among the Taliban and other Afghan factions about the country’s future. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the agreement.

It’s not clear what will become of gains made in women’s rights since the toppling of the Taliban, which had repressed women and girls under a strict brand of Sharia law. Women’s rights in Afghanistan had been a top concern of both the Bush and Obama administration, but it remains a deeply conservative country, with women still struggling for basic rights.

There are currently more than 16,500 soldiers serving under the NATO banner, of which 8,000 are American. Germany has the next largest contingent, with 1,300 troops, followed by Britain with 1,100.

In all, 38 NATO countries are contributing forces to Afghanistan. The alliance officially concluded its combat mission in 2014 and now provides training and support to Afghan forces.

The U.S. has a separate contingent of 5,000 troops deployed to carry out counter-terrorism missions and provide air and ground support to Afghan forces when requested.

Since the start of negotiations with the Taliban, the U.S. has stepped up its air assaults on the Taliban as well as a local Islamic State affiliate. Last year the U.S. air force dropped more bombs on Afghanistan than in any year since 2013.

Seven days ago, the Taliban began a seven-day “reduction of violence” period, a prerequisite to the peace deal signing.

“We have seen a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan over the last days, and therefore we are also very close to the signing of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday in Brussels.

He was in Kabul on Saturday for a separate signing ceremony with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper. That signing was intended to show continuing NATO and U.S. support for Afghanistan.

“The road to peace will be long and hard and there will be setbacks, and there is a risk always for spoilers,” Stoltenberg said. “But the thing is, we are committed, the Afghan people are committed to peace, and we will continue to provide support.”

___

Gannon reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Tameem Akhgar in Kabul, Lorne Cook in Brussels and Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem contributed.

https://www.breitbart.com/news/us-taliban-sign-deal-aimed-at-ending-war-in-afghanistan/

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/02/russia_democrats_and_the_death_of_logic.html

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/02/28/maher-trump-is-going-to-declare-martial-law-over-coronavirus/

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/_blame_it_on_nancy_.html

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/smackdown_jake_tapper_calls_out_democrat_ted_lieu_for_lying_about_trump_and_coronavirus.html

“He Was Going to Name Names… And Ends Up with a Bullet in Him” – Rep. Louie Gohmert Remembers His Friend Philip Haney on House Floor (VIDEO)

DHS whistleblower Philip Haney was found dead last Friday in California.
The whistleblower against the Obama administration died of a gunshot wound near his vehicle in California.

The Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan released a video this week on Haney’s death. While the death scene made it appear a suicide, Ryan wants it known that a determination has not been made as to the cause of death.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) spoke out on the House floor this week to remember his friend Philip Haney.

Rep. Gohmert did not come right out and say Phillip Haney was murdered. But he did do an excellent job of explaining why members of the Obama administration would have excellent motives to have done so.

Rep. Louie Gohmert: “I had a friend I met here years ago. His name is Phil Haney and he was one of the kindest, most patriotic, competent people I’ve ever known in my life… We had a mutual pact. If it’s said that either one of us end up having committed suicide then the other is going to make sure that truth wins out… He saw things that were a threat to this country, he said something, and he was severely punished for it, because apparently the Obama administration had some radical ties that they did not want anybody, including Philip Haney, to expose… He was gonna name names of people that put this country at risk…and he ends with a bullet in him?”

Vlad Tepes has the entire speech.

Via Andrew Bostom.

Andrew Bostom@andrewbostom

@replouiegohmert on "incredibly talented patriot" #PhilipHaney, who was coming back to work for the USGOV : "He was gonna name names of people that put this country at risk...& he ends with a bullet in him?" https://3speak.online/watch?v=vladtepesblog/ykbfmnzm&utm_source=studio …

 3Speak.online ‎@3speakonline

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/he-was-going-to-name-names-and-ends-up-with-a-bullet-in-him-rep-louie-gohmert-remembers-his-friend-philip-haney-on-house-floor-video/

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/chuck_schumer_quietly_deletes_his_tweet_criticizing_trumps_china_travel_ban_as_premature_and_war_against_immigrants.html

One more thing for Bernie on Cuba's glorious free health care: It killed Hugo Chávez

Bernie Sanders got himself into hot water with Florida's voters by praising Cuba's "literacy programs," which were ugly coercive propaganda efforts for those who experienced them.

It's far from the only thing he's praised about the Castroite communist hellhole.  According to the New York Times:

MIAMI — In the spring of 1989, as the outgoing mayor of Burlington, Vt., Bernie Sanders and his wife, Jane, traveled to Cuba on an eight-day trip, with the hopes of meeting the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro.

The 47-year-old Mr. Sanders didn't get time with Mr. Castro, but he toured Havana, met with its mayor and marveled that visitors could take a cab anywhere in the country. "The revolution there is far deeper and more profound than I understood it to be," he said back home, according to The Burlington Free Press, and commended Cuba for providing free health care, free education and free housing.

Free health care?  That one's worth a teaching moment for Bernie, too.

Not only do citizens get experiences like this, but it's worth noting that even Fidel Castro himself knew better than to use it.  Socialist systems may create two-tier health care systems for the ordinary people and the elites, which is bad enough, but in the absence of any innovation and the only incentives to "excellence" being political ones, even the elites' system eventually goes to hell, too, at least on life-or-death matters. 

Castro knew this, which is why he decided to import his doctor from Spain to treat his malignant diverticulitis.

His little pawn, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, wasn't quite as savvy.  He actually believed the lies about Cuba's free health care system — and with some sort of internal cancer, paid for his faith in Castrocare with his life.

Shortly before Chávez's 2013 death in a Cuban hospital, the truth came out about the disastrous state of Cuban health care — even for the elites — back when I was writing editorials at Investor's Business Daily:

Americas: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is dying of cancer in Havana, in a live demonstration of Cuba's vaunted socialized medical care. He went there instead of Brazil because he wanted to make a political statement. What irony.

...and...

Most galling for him: It didn't have to happen this way.

His expected demise will be entirely due to his gullibility to leftist propaganda and bad choices that came of it.

"In July 2011, during (a)... summit in Caracas, Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, told a few of her colleagues — in private — that Chavez was likely to die as a result of 'his excessive paranoia rather than as a consequence of his serious — yet treatable — cancer,'" wrote Venezuelan consultant Pedro Burelli in a newsletter.

"What she meant to say," Burelli added, "was that by choosing secrecy in Cuba over medical competence at the Sirio-Libanese Hospital in Sao Paulo (where she had been treated successfully for lymphatic cancer) Chavez had condemned himself to a shorter life."

Burelli noted that it corresponded to his own sources, who told him that Chavez's chosen successor, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, flew to Brasilia to meet with Rousseff and her oncologist.

He presented the diagnoses from Caracas and Havana and the Brazilian specialist "considered it treatable under world-class protocols available in his center."

Maduro signaled interest. But the Chavista regime then demanded to pretty much take over the 400-bed hospital, which the Brazilians rejected. "From that moment on the patient was doomed," Burelli wrote.

The Cubans, it turned out, gave Chávez the wrong cancer treatment — probably radiation or chemotherapy, which has limits on uses — and, as a result, were unable to correct it after they discovered the error.  That doomed Chávez, a victim of the very Castrocare he touted, as Bernie Sanders does now, as the solution to all of Venezuela's ills.  Venezuela's hospitals now look like Cuba's or, given the lack of water, electricity, and money, probably worse.  But it was Castrocare itself, the elites-tier version, that did Chávez in.

Would Bernie Sanders consent to Cuban-style health care for his own heart condition?  Not if he wanted to live.  The examples of Castro, treated with Western medicine, and Chávez, going down with a treatable illness made untreatable by Castrocare, tell the whole story about the worth of such a system. 

Someone should ask him.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/one_more_thing_for_bernie_on_cubas_glorious_free_health_care_it_killed_hugo_chavez.html

Report: FBI Collected Nearly One Billion Records in Top Secret Program That Likely Was Used for Political Purposes

An FBI Agent who ran a warrantless spying program recently revealed that the FBI spent millions on  a program that he believes was used for political purposes.

According to JusttheNews.com:

The FBI agent who ran the bureau’s warrantless spying program said Wednesday he warned ex-Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe that the program was a useless waste of taxpayer money that needlessly infringed Americans’ civil liberties but his bosses refused to take action.

Retired Special Agent Bassem Youssef ran the FBI’s Communications Analysis Unit from late 2004 until his retirement in late 2014. He told Just the News he fears the deeply flawed program, which was started in response to the Sept. 11 attacks, was allowed to keep going to give Americans a false sense of security in the war on terror and possibly to enable inappropriate spying, such as that which targeted President Trump’s 2016 campaign.

“I have no doubt, or very little doubt, that it was used for political spying or political espionage,” Youssef said during a lengthy interview for the John Solomon Reports podcast.

Youssef confirmed that the FBI performed an audit of the highly classified program (also known as the NSA program because it searched call records captured by the National Security Agency) after Edward Snowden leaked its existence.

It was also reported from the Freedom Act’s Telephone Call Records Program report released by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, that the number of records collected by the government was in the millions and former DNI Dan Coates was well aware of this:

So no surprise here.  The government spent millions and collected nearly a half a billion records that likely were used for political purposes.  Nevermind, nothing to see here, move along.

Hat tip D. Manny

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/report-fbi-collected-nearly-one-billion-records-in-top-secret-program-that-likely-was-used-for-political-purposes/

If I was Durham and the Others I'd tell Nadler to eat shit

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/jerry-nadler-announces-he-will-call-in-the-4-corrupt-roger-stone-prosecutors-us-attorney-john-durham-and-us-attorney-jeff-jensen/

“It’s Like Rip Van Winkle Over There” – Economist Peter Morici BLASTS Crackpot Fed Chief Jerome Powell After Worst Market Week Since 2008 (VIDEO)

Economist Peter Morici trashed Fed Chief Jerome Powell, the CDC’s shocking statement from Rod Rosenstein’s sister and the Democrat Party’s efforts to tank the economy, after Worst Week in the US Markets Since 2008.

Peter Morici was as insightful as usual in noting the real market challenges from this past week.  Morici said that the flu is going to kill more people in the US this year than the coronavirus and that the efforts or lack of efforts from certain individuals really set the the market moving in the wrong direction.

1. Morici blamed the CDC’s shocking announcement by Dr. Nancy Messonnier that set off the nationwide panic.  (We noted earlier this week that that announcement was made by former disgraced DAG Rod Rosenstein’s sister who runs the CDC.)

2. Morici claimed that the destructive chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, waited until Friday, after the markets went down more than 3,000 points to say anything.  Morici said former Fed Chiefs would have been much more proactive.  “It’s like Rip Van Winkle over there. He decides to get up on Friday when it’s too late and say something… It seems to take Jerome Powell about two weeks to wake up in the morning!”

3. The Democrats and their media pushing the fear for the nation in hopes of tanking the economy was horrible as well.

Via FOX and Friends Weekend.

The markets should mirror the economy and the economy is on fire.

This week was based on fear and made no sense because it was manufactured by people who should have acted more responsibly.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/its-like-rip-van-winkle-over-there-economist-peter-morici-blasts-failed-fed-chief-jerome-powell-after-worst-market-week-since-2008-video/

SICK! Media Falsely Accuses Trump of Saying Coronavirus is a Hoax

In yet another example of why President Trump calls the media the ‘enemy of the people, the media is falsely accusing Trump of calling the coronavirus a hoax in a speech at a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina Friday night.

What Trump actually did was recount an aide telling him the Democrats’ criticism of his handling of the coronavirus was “the new hoax” after trying to take him down with the Russia hoax and then the impeachment hoax.

Trump’s remarks transcribed by TGP:

Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs, you see. ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ ‘Oh, not good, not good.’ (Laughter) They have no clue, they don’t have any clue. They can’t even count their votes in Iowa! (Laughter) .They can’t even count. No, they can’t. They can’t count their votes!

One of my people came up to me and said “Mr. President they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn’t work out too well, they couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax–that was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything. They tried it over and over. They’ve been doing it since you got in. It’s all turning. They lost, it’s all turning. Think of it, think of it. And this is their new hoax.”

But you know, we did something that’s been pretty amazing. We have fifteen people in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early, we went early, we coulda had a lot more than that. We’re doing great. Our country is doing so great. We are so unified. We are so unified. (Loud cheers.)

What the media reported:

Politico: “President Trump on Friday night tried to cast the global outbreak of the coronavirus as a liberal conspiracy intended to undermine his first term, lumping it alongside impeachment and the Mueller investigation”

The Guardian: “Trump calls coronavirus outbreak a ‘hoax’ and links it to immigration at rally”

NBC News, “Trump says the coronavirus is the Democrats’ ‘new hoax'”

The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, “Remember this moment: Trump, in South Carolina, just called the coronavirus a “hoax.””

Vox’s Aaron Rupar, “Here’s Trump at his rally tonight in South Carolina dismissing worries about the coronavirus as the “new hoax””

The clip posted by Rupar clearly shows Trump calling the Democrats’ attacks accusing him of failing to handle the coronavirus “the new hoax”, not the coronavirus itself or worries about it.

Dan Rather, “Pres. Trump calls coronavirus Dems “new hoax” at a cheering rally. I wonder how they’d view the “hoax” if they found out somebody in the crowd was sick with the deadly disease. I say this with sadness. We need our government to lead, or at least get out of the way of the truth.”

CNN contributor Amanda Carpenter, “KPRC 2 reports this as Trump tells South Carolina rallygoers coronavirus “is a hoax.””

(NOTE: The KPRC report is misleading, there are no new case in San Antonio. The cases are evacuees from overseas quarantined at a nearby military base.)

CNN reporter Manu Raju, “Trump calls coronavirus fears a “hoax” even as his WH is engaged in negotiations, which will continue through the weekend, to cut a deal on a spending package for several billion dollars in emergency funding to deal with the outbreak”

Playboy White House reporter Brain Karem, “Coronavirus: WHO Director-General says world is ‘at a decisive point’ – Trump, meanwhile, calls it a hoax at a rally.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/sick-media-falsely-accuses-trump-of-saying-coronavirus-is-a-hoax/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/liars-brian-williams-and-michael-moore-smear-president-trump-on-msnbc-as-falsely-saying-coronavirus-is-a-hoax/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/mike-bloomberg-and-other-democrats-falsely-accuse-trump-of-calling-the-coronavirus-a-hoax/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/liars-brian-williams-and-michael-moore-smear-president-trump-on-msnbc-as-falsely-saying-coronavirus-is-a-hoax/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/the-hoax-is-on-them-trump-confirms-he-was-talking-about-democrats-and-their-latest-hoax-on-coronavirus-media-pushes-lie-anyway-video/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/more-fake-news-media-accuses-trump-of-muzzling-dr-fauci-from-speaking-to-reporters-dr-fauci-then-tells-reporters-i-was-not-muzzled-video/

A Few More Shared Facebook Post

                





           












                   

New Way Forward Act is totally backward

The Leftist Socialist Inbreds really must hate the American People  by doing this garbage?

If you were deported after doing prison time for sexual assault, drug-dealing, or other aggravated felonies, the New Way Forward Act could be your ticket back across the border.  The catch?  You must legally challenge your deportation order, but do not be dismayed.  If this pending legislation is enacted, American taxpayers will pay your legal fees and pony up for your plane ticket as well.

Now teach your fellow felons to follow this three-step roadmap and get a piece of the American pie.

STEP 1 — Hire Your Free Attorney

Under the NWFA's "ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION," the secretary of Homeland Security must "establish programs," including "appearance assistance services."  This is code for "Reverse Your Deportation with Free Attorney."  If you were convicted of a serious crime, don't sweat it.  The act redefines "serious crime" as a felony that would imprison someone five years or more.

STEP 2 A — Get Your Free Plane Ticket

Under the bill's sub-heading, "RIGHT TO COME HOME," it states, "The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide transportation for aliens," and it will be at "Government expense, to return to the United States for further immigration proceedings."  Make sure you pocket your frequent flier miles.

STEP 2 B — Exercise your "PRESUMPTION OF RELEASE"

This is for career criminals who have a fear of flying and want to cross the border the old-fashioned way without fear of being detained for long.

"A prior conviction or a criminal charge pending against the alien may not be the sole factor to justify the continued detention of the alien."  Better yet, the attorney general will no longer be allowed to refuse you a work permit, as that section of the Immigration and Nationality Act will be scrubbed.

STEP 3 — State You Are "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Intersex"

This qualifies you under the subsection "SPECIAL RULE FOR VULNERABLE PERSONS."  You will then join the ranks of other vulnerables, like gang members under 21, the mentally ill, and those "experiencing severe trauma."

If you are cisgender, no problem — simply pull a Corporal Klinger.  Wear a dress and bright lipstick to establish your street cred.  Vulnerable persons "may not be detained unless the Government shows it's unreasonable or not practicable" — don't push your luck.

Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-Ill.) and his 43 Democratic NWFA co-conspirators, officially known as co-sponsors, will welcome felons like you with open arms.  But for now, this pending act is percolating in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship . They do not want this bill boiling over until after the general election so as not to prematurely raise voter emotions and risk interfering with Democrats taking over the Senate.

Nevertheless, as insurance, tell your American friends to make sure Bolshevik Bernie and the other Democratic presidential contenders take a public position on the New Way Forward Act.  You know how they love to give stuff away for future votes, so maybe they will promise to upgrade your plane ticket to first class.

This American Mensa member, actor, and former radio talk show host can be reached at lancevoorhees@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @LanceVoorhees.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/02/new_way_forward_act_is_totally_backward_.html