Who married Pakistan?
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Last 74 years will resort to tired metaphors: a roller-coaster ride, a sine wave, the dynamic between an overbearing mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law
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the relationship with the Taliban could be useful. But the envoy must now deliver a clear message to the Taliban: It will be accommodated within Afghanistan's existing structure as the price for peace but should stop expecting to rule Afghanistan again.
#Khalilzad's muted response to #Taliban attacks lay in the language of the Doha agreement.The Taliban had made no commitment to a ceasefire & had only agreed that "A permanent &comprehensive ceasefire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-#Afghan dialogue and negotiations."
But the #Taliban are students of #Islamic#sharia law and, in their belief system, an agreement is binding only in its literal sense. #Khalilzad's expectation of a "reduction in violence"
Problem is Taliban, Khalilzada deal & then Ghani.
| #Taliban, who’ve spent the past year on a rampage, are despised nationally, with approval ratings in the single digits. But #Afghan President Ashraf #Ghani’s government is also extremely unpopular.
Most #Afghans and U.S. officials agree that the #Taliban’s ability to continue the insurgency has been largely due to #Ghani’s bad leadership—and he has shown little interest in reaching a lasting peace agreement that might usher him out of power.