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…