{"id":36396,"date":"2018-06-20T16:24:34","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T16:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/20\/state-official-sees-cautious-optimism-for-afghanistan-after-ceasefire\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:39:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:39:30","slug":"state-official-sees-cautious-optimism-for-afghanistan-after-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/20\/state-official-sees-cautious-optimism-for-afghanistan-after-ceasefire\/","title":{"rendered":"State official sees cautious optimism for Afghanistan after ceasefire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. remains <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/2017\/08\/22\/trump-afghanistan-strategy-calls-for-more-troops-regional-pressure\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">unwilling to hold direct talks<\/a> with the Taliban, but the prospects for peace have risen since the recent start of a cease-fire in Afghanistan, a senior State Department official told lawmakers Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2018\/02\/06\/afghanistan-worse-than-ever-russia-holds-the-cards-in-syria-warns-former-dod-boss\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">16 years of war<\/a>, we see a real opportunity this year to start an Afghan peace process that could lead to a double settlement of the conflict,\u201d Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taliban and the Afghan government announced a three-day cease-fire to cover the Eid al-Fitr holiday. While the pause in fighting featured positive signs, the cease-fire deal ended Sunday night \u2015 and on Wednesday, a Taliban attack killed around 30 Afghan soldiers, according to local media reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made jump-starting the peace process in Afghanistan a high priority, the administration has resisted direct talks as a matter of Afghan sovereignty and positioned itself as a participant and facilitator.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/06\/19\/despite-17-years-of-war-next-us-commander-in-afghanistan-sees-progress\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4428063.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Despite 17 years of war, next US commander in Afghanistan sees progress<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Army Lt. Gen. Austin Miller is expected to be easily confirmed to oversee the mission despite senators&#039; dissatisfaction with the ongoing war.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wells seized on reports of Taliban and Afghan forces praying together during the cease-fire as a sign of positive movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2017\/10\/03\/the-pentagon-has-a-new-acronym-for-afghanistan-can-it-win-the-war\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Afghan troops<\/a> and Taliban foot-soldiers can pray together, then the Afghan people have every reason to believe that their leaders can come together and negotiate an end to this war,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That cautiously optimistic take drew skepticism from a few members committee, who questioned whether the White House could break the stalemate and force the Taliban to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wells said the issues involved \u201chave to be negotiated with Afghans and not over the heads of Afghans,\u201d and that the Taliban must recognize the Afghan government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments come a day after Army Lt. Gen. Austin Scott Miller, nominated to succeed Army Gen. John Nicholson leading the American and NATO mission in Afghanistan told lawmakers he sees progress in the ongoing fight thanks to recent changes in military strategy there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wells weathered sharp questioning from both Democrats and Republicans, including Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, of California, and Ted Poe, of Texas, for whom skepticism toward Pakistan was one theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/05\/01\/how-many-bombs-have-been-dropped-in-afghanistan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"194\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1412358191003-october-3-frontlines-6jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">How many bombs have been dropped in Afghanistan?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Just how many munitions have been released in Afghanistan and Iraq\/Syria during the past few years? Well, a lot.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republicans also questioned the assumptions and costs behind U.S. nation-building efforts in Afghanistan \u2014 as well as the administration\u2019s \u201cconditions-based\u201d versus a \u201ctimeline-based\u201d strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI find that alarming that there is no end in sight,\u201d Poe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPresident Trump has been very clear that we are not in the nation building business,\u201d Wells replied, adding that, \u201cWe\u2019re no longer giving the Taliban the luxury of knowing when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/03\/mattis-reveals-new-rules-of-engagement\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">United States will leave.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the panel\u2019s top Democrat, Rep. Eliot Engel, of New York, questioned why the hard line on direct talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe way I see it is, if we can talk to Kim Jong Un, certainly we can talk to the Taliban,\u201d Engel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could peace be on the horizon for Afghanistan?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,12,25,68,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3380],"class_list":["post-36396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MEL4ZCRE3RC7JGWYWJ5IMDHPIE","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2018\/06\/20\/state-official-sees-cautious-optimism-for-afghanistan-after-ceasefire\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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