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Afghanistan’s government one-sidedly decided to stop attacks on the Taliban. This move is giving U.S. forces a chance to step up with their combat operation. Jeff Mattis is the Defense Secretary. He and and the top U.S. general in Kabul said on Friday that the U.S. forces can now intensify their operations against the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan.

The U.S. in a Better Position

John Nicholson, Army General, stated that combat against IS in the Nangarhar province have already intensified this year. He is expecting these fights to intensify even more. Nicholson told this news to reporters in a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

Separately speaking at the same news conference, Jeff Mattis stated the cease-fire is probably going to put U.S. forces in an even better position. He thinks that this will be good for the U.S. to combat other groups, such as the remaining members of al-Qaeda and IS.

Mattis also said that if Taliban forces take the advantage of the cease-fire in the interests of Afghanistan, the U.S. will reorient their surveillance assets. He thinks that the next targets will be al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, and other foreign terrorists that don’t belong in Afghanistan. ISIS-K is Islamic States’ affiliate that operates in eastern Afghanistan.

Peace?

On the other side, Nicholson said good things about Trump’s policy. The leaders of Taliban are showing early signs of considering peace talks. However, the militant group didn’t publicly announce that they are considering negotiations with Afghanistan.

Nicholson said that he thinks that Trump’s policy is working out very well, but that it needs more time to become fully functional.

He also added that he thinks that the involvement of other outside powers is further complicating the war. He was referring to Russia. Russia claims that they got involved because they are concerned about IS-affiliated groups spreading to Central Asia.

Questions from the American People:

• The government of Afghanistan called a cease-fire against enemies within their borders. Should the U.S. follow suit? Or should American forces continue the offensive?
• Taliban seems to be considering peace talks. Should the U.S. allow them to negotiate? Or should we consider them criminals with no rights to ask for peace?
• Should the U.S. insist that other governments leave our forces to finish the offensive?