‘This War’s Got to End’: Dem Rep. and Afghan War Vet Praises Trump’s Peace Deal with Taliban
Representative Max Rose (D., N.Y.) praised the Trump administration for its “100 percent correct” decision to sign a peace deal with the Taliban and said that ending the Afghanistan war was “deeply personal” for him as a veteran of the nearly two-decade long campaign.
Rose, appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Monday morning, argued that the war would “continue in perpetuity” without the Trump administration’s decision. The peace deal, singed Saturday by the U.S. and the Taliban, would see all American troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by May 2021.
“This decision by the administration is 100 percent correct,” Rose said. “We have got to focus on politics now in our longest-standing war . . . this war’s got to end.”
Rose also pushed back on claims that a withdrawal could result an ISIS-like rise to fill the power vacuum.
“I do have confidence, albeit cautious optimism, that the Taliban is and can proceed as an entity that does want peace,” he stated. “We have seen 18 years of war. And I think that forcing them to the negotiating table, albeit with conditions going forward, we owe it to our soldiers to do this.”
The freshman Democrat closed by suggesting the U.S. would be prepared in case of a “terrorist organization” rising in Afghanistan.
“We should always keep in precautions and keep in a capacity to respond . . . but we should have that same level of capacity for any other country in the world that poses a threat to American security,” he explained.
In December, Rose voted against curtailing Trump’s war powers vis-à-vis Iran, breaking with his caucus to oppose the resolution led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.).
