Turning Point
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Volume 78, No. 225B ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas AFGHANISTAN Turning point Deal between US, Taliban could lead to full withdrawal in 14 months BY J.P. LAWRENCE fighting the Islamic State. Stars and Stripes Zalmay Khalilzad, America’s special Afghan vets conflicted on agreement envoy for Afghan reconciliation, signed DOHA, Qatar — The United States the deal along with Mullah Abdul Ghani and its foreign allies will withdraw all BY RUSS BYNUM hard-line government the U.S.-led forc- Baradar, the Taliban’s top political forces within 14 months and end the Associated Press es overthrew in 2001. Skeptics worry leader. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo war in Afghanistan if the Taliban re- the Taliban’s re-integration could cause was the highest-ranking U.S. official to nounces terror groups and abides by an SAVANNAH, Ga. — Veterans of agreement signed in Doha on Saturday. Afghanistan to backslide on such issues attend. America’s longest war are finding as human rights. President Donald Trump said the The agreement mandates a phased themselves torn as the U.S. signs a po- drawdown of American, NATO and for- “If they sign a peace treaty and Af- agreement is a “powerful path forward tentially historic peace accord with the eign partner troops from Afghanistan ghanistan goes back to the Taliban or to end the war” and to bring the troops Taliban in Afghanistan. and a disavowal of al-Qaida and other Sharia law, then it’s all been for noth- home, should the deal’s commitments terror groups by the Taliban. For many, the U.S. is long overdue in ing,” said former Army Staff Sgt. Will be honored. It also calls for intra-Afghan talks to withdrawing its forces after more than Blackburn of Hinesville, Ga. “I thank the hundreds of thousands of include the Taliban and the government 18 years of fighting. Others question the American warriors who have proudly in Kabul beginning March 10, as well trustworthiness of the Taliban, whose SEE VETS ON PAGE 4 as security cooperation by all sides in SEE DEAL ON PAGE 4 Above: U.S. special envoy for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, left, signs a peace deal with Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Doha, Qatar, Saturday. J.P. LAWRENCE/Stars and Stripes MILITARY VIRUS OUTBREAK MUSIC Air Force dropping Officials confirm New BTS album charts exclusionary language first coronavirus path forward as K-pop from service anthem death in US enters exciting new era Page 5 Page 6 Page 12 Senior Bowl experience worthwhile for some NFL prospects » Back page PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, March 1, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES FCC proposes fines for sharing users’ phone data Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9668 Euro costs (March 2) .......................$1.1273 Thailand (Baht) .....................................31.54 Dollar buys (March 2) ......................€0.8871 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.2382 Associated Press British pound (March 2) ......................$1.32 (Military exchange rates are those company sold the user data and chusetts Democrat. Japanese yen (March 2) ....................107.00 available to customers at military banking how many companies and orga- Lisa Hayes of the advocacy South Korean won (March 2) ........1,185.00 facilities in the country of issuance NEW YORK — U.S. regula- Commercial rates nizations it sold the data to. The group Center for Democracy & for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the tors have proposed fining the Bahrain (Dinar) ...................................0. 3771 Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For phone companies can object, and Technology said the FCC’s “weak British pound .....................................$1.2951 nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., four major U.S. phone companies purchasing British pounds in Germany), the amounts could change. enforcement response” demon- Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3432 more than $200 million combined China (Yuan) ........................................6.9879 check with your local military banking Critics said the FCC took too strate why the U.S. needs a com- Denmark (Krone) ................................6.8146 facility. Commercial rates are interbank for improperly disclosing custom- rates provided for reference when buying Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.6333 ers’ real-time location to other long, and the proposed fines were prehensive privacy law. currency. All figures are foreign currencies Euro ........................................... $1.0967/.9119 to one dollar, except for the British pound, companies. too low. Location data makes it possible Hong Kong (Dollar) .............................7.7942 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, “Instead of meeting its obliga- to identify the whereabouts of Hungary (Forint) .................................308.36 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) The proposed fines by the Fed- Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4795 eral Communications Commis- tion to come down hard on the nearly any phone in the U.S. with- Japan (Yen) ...........................................108.42 INTEREST RATES sion amounted to $91 million for wireless carriers that are guilty in seconds. Federal law requires Kuwait (Dinar) ....................................0 .3060 Norway (Krone) ...................................9.4816 T-Mobile, $57 million for AT&T, in this case, the FCC dragged its that telecommunications compa- Philippines (Peso)................................ 51.09 Prime rate ................................................4.75 Poland (Zloty) ..........................................3.95 Discount rate ..........................................2.25 $48 million for Verizon and $12 feet and issued penalties that let nies protect the confidentiality Federal funds market rate ...................1.58 million for Sprint. The amounts these companies off easy,” said of some customer data, including Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7515 3-month bill .............................................1.42 Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3957 30-year bond ...........................................1.79 vary based on how long each Sen. Edward Markey, a Massa- location information. South Korea (Won) ...........................1208.27 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 40/33 Kabul 61/43 Seoul 42/33 Baghdad 67/52 Kandahar 68/41 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 41/34 43/40 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 45/36 45/37 48/41 Iwakuni 54/47 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 72/63 Brussels 48/41 Guam 75/57 47/41 Ramstein 54/51 81/78 Lajes, 46/39 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 84/61 77/58 62/59 52/42 53/42 Aviano/ Vicenza 43/39 Naples 58/49 Okinawa Morón 68/65 65/54 Sigonella Rota 66/44 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 84/70 63/58 56/50 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ...15 Comics ....................14 Crossword ...............14 Music .................12-13 Opinion ...................16 Sports ................ 17-24 Sunday, March 1, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Navy wants total of 390 manned vessels BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY the U.S.-Mexico border. dersecretary in 2017. Modly’s re- “So our force structure is prob- Pentagon to submit its 30-year Stars and Stripes Modly did not say how soon the marks Friday were made during ably, if you include unmanned in shipbuilding plan, which is re- Navy needed to attain that many a discussion on Navy moderniza- the [force structure assessment] quired by law. WASHINGTON — Acting Navy ships. tion and competing against China that we just did, the number is like It’s being held up because Esper Secretary Thomas Modly said During a House Armed Servic- and Russia at the Brookings In- 435 with unmanned in there. And wants time to consider it with the Friday that the service wants to es Committee hearing Thursday, stitute, a Washington-based think it’s like 390 without unmanned in increase the fleet to 390 manned Modly told lawmakers that the tank. there,” he said. new force structure assessment, ships, with an additional 45 un- goal for the Navy is to reach 355 The new ship total is in the The Navy is investing in two Modly said. manned vessels. ships by 2030. That ship count is Integrated Force Structure As- unmanned surface vessels in the The assessment details the That would dramatically in- based on the 2016 Force Struc- sessment that has been sent to 2021 budget proposal. But the Navy’s plan for its future fleet, crease the number of combat ture Assessment that has since Defense Secretary Mark Esper value of the ships still must be de- such as how many aircraft car- ships in the Navy at a time when become a requirement for the sea for approval. termined, Modly said. riers, submarines and destroyers ship-building funds in the pro- service. The Navy is expected to Unmanned vessels will be part Navy officials did not provide that the service needs to compete posed budget for fiscal year 2021 have 297 ships this year. of the future mix of ships in the further information Friday on have decreased and some appro- On Friday, Moldy said he’s been fleet, he said, but the question re- Modly’s comments about the new against Russia and China. priated money for ships has been calling for a fleet of “355 plus” mains whether they will be count- fleet numbers. [email protected]