The United States state department has moved forward in its game of chess with Afghanistan by delivering an eight-page draft of a peace agreement. An uncompromising letter by US secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, made it clear that an interim government was required and called on the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators in Doha to negotiate a power-sharing agreement.
Meetings are planned in Turkey in the coming weeks but whether they take place or not depends partly on the Taliban’s reaction. But given the group’s power over much of Afghanistan, it will probably consider the negotiations to be a useful step in taking over the whole country in due course.
The Afghan government takes a very different view, with President Ashraf Ghani resolutely opposed to an interim government. However, US President Joe Biden is convinced he will have to agree at some stage because the US really does want out of the country – at least for the 2,500 regular troops still present. If the US president does get his deal – even if it has to be imposed – then most of the other NATO forces (close to 10,000 in largely non-combat training roles) will go as well and Afghanistan will be left to its own devices to build a cohesive, peaceful state.
