The Taliban Are Counting the Days Until Trump’s Afghan Pullout
DOHA, Qatar — On the sixth and last day of marathon talks between the Afghan Taliban and a team of U.S. negotiators led by veteran ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a convoy of luxury cars converged on the luxurious offices of this rich little country’s foreign ministry. The Taliban emerged in traditional Afghan clothing, wearing black or gray turbans, the Americans in business suits and ties, as they sat down at a long table in the meeting hall.
What the members of the Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani might have worn can be imagined but not known. They were not there.
These were negotiations to extract the United States from its longest war, the objective a framework agreement calling for a ceasefire that would open the way for American troops to get out. In exchange, the Taliban would agree not to harbor jihadists who aimed to attack the U.S. and other farflung targets, as they had done with Osama bin Laden when he organized 9/11.
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