Before the most recent talks, the United States had other key opportunities across its nearly twenty-year war in Afghanistan to facilitate a negotiated settlement but squandered each of them, prolonging the violence and losing more leverage along the way.
The idea that it is necessary to maintain residual forces in Afghanistan to conduct counterterrorism operations is based on the flawed premise that “terrorism” must be fought and can be defeated militarily.
Afghanistan still depends upon foreign assistance for its survival. Even Taliban leadership has acknowledged that Afghanistan will require international development aid moving forward.
Before the most recent talks, the United States had other key opportunities across its nearly twenty-year war in Afghanistan to facilitate a negotiated settlement but squandered each of them, prolonging the violence and losing more leverage along the way.
The United States-Taliban deal—parts of which remain secret—envisions the withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan, in exchange for assurances that the Taliban will not allow Afghanistan to harbor terrorist groups that threaten the United States. Because the deal was negotiated without any participation by the Afghan government or Afghan civil society, it sets the terms for a U.S. military exit without setting the stage for peace.
On October 7, 2001, the United States officially began Operation Enduring Freedom and the war in Afghanistan. Almost 19 years later, the United States finds itself struggling to conclude two decades of relentless war that has cost trillions of dollars and an untold number of lives.
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