American expert: The upcoming Doha agreement is an opportunity to get Afghanistan out of the war cycle

Barnett Robin, associate director of the Center for International Cooperation at New York University, said that these days the Afghan people celebrated the 31st anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet Union forces from Afghanistan in an atmosphere of anticipation and optimism about the announcement of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban that ends the war that has ravaged the country for many years.

In an article in the Washington Post, Robin said that the expected agreement between the United States and the Afghan Taliban in Doha, if all goes according to what they agreed upon, represents an ideal opportunity to get Afghanistan out of the wars that have been torn four decades ago.

She said that the expected agreement meets the basic demands of both parties to the conflict, as it guarantees the Taliban the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, and it gives Americans guarantees that the movement will not harbor terrorist activities.

It added that it paves the way for negotiations seeking to end the war between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Terms of the agreement
According to Robin, the peace agreement expected to be announced includes a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces, guarantees for combating terrorism, a map of a ceasefire, and a political settlement.

The agreement will be implemented in phases in a manner that enhances confidence between the two parties and ensures that its terms are not violated. Immediately after its announcement, the two parties are obligated to reduce military operations for a period of seven days.

Under the agreement, the United States is committed to reducing its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 during the first 135 days after signing, according to the author, to withdraw more of those forces later based on the Taliban's fulfillment of its counter-terrorism obligations.

The agreement also obliges the Taliban to stop military attacks against American forces to facilitate their withdrawal, while the United States reserves the right to help defend Afghan forces.

The writer said that the peace agreement also provides for the start of peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and she expected that the first priority of those negotiations would be a comprehensive ceasefire throughout the Afghan soil.

She explained that supporters of the Afghan government, whom I spoke to in Kabul, are more likely to demand that the Taliban form an interim government that includes all parties as a prerequisite for a ceasefire.