Peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan Appears Closer Than Ever. What Could That Look Like?
Peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan Appears Closer Than Ever. What Could That Look Like? By Shashank Bengali, Sultan Faizy and Aoun Sahi – Los Angeles Times
Seventeen years after the U.S. military-led invasion of Afghanistan — after the deaths of more than 2,400 American troops, tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police and untold numbers of civilians — the prospect of a truce with the Taliban appears to be inching closer to reality.
Six days of talks in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar ended over the weekend with a commitment by U.S. and Taliban negotiators to reconvene soon and the outlines of a deal under which all 14,000 U.S. troops would depart Afghanistan within 18 months.
The talks still don’t include the Afghan government, whose leader, President Ashraf Ghani, on Monday warned against a precipitous troop withdrawal and insisted that any peace agreement must be Afghan-led.
But the longest face-to-face meeting between U.S. and Taliban representatives has raised hopes that a deal will be reached.
Here’s a rundown of where the talks stand and why many feel this is their best chance of success…
