{"id":52759,"date":"2018-03-04T15:20:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T15:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/04\/us-afghan-leaders-agree-on-peace-push-taliban-dont\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:04:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:04:42","slug":"us-afghan-leaders-agree-on-peace-push-taliban-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/04\/us-afghan-leaders-agree-on-peace-push-taliban-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"US, Afghan leaders agree on peace push, Taliban don&#8217;t"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Despite U.S. support, the Afghan government\u2019s surprising new peace offer to the Taliban is immediately running into a wall. The insurgents show no sign of shifting from their demand that talks for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/17\/us-ambassador-nikki-haley-says-trump-policy-in-afghanistan-is-working\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">conflict-ending compromise<\/a> take place with Washington, not Kabul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The impasse is blocking a diplomatic path out of America\u2019s longest-running war and could prove as fateful as fortunes on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Trump administration says it\u2019s escalating pressure on the Taliban to advance a negotiated solution to the fighting. But diplomacy is a distant second to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/02\/07\/afghanistan-now-main-effort-for-us-airpower\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">military efforts<\/a> right now, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/03\/mattis-reveals-new-rules-of-engagement\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\"> the U.S. isn\u2019t offering carrots<\/a> of its own to persuade the insurgents to lay down their arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2017\/10\/03\/the-pentagon-has-a-new-acronym-for-afghanistan-can-it-win-the-war\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635672929880188708-150512-a-nj230-595jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The Pentagon has a new acronym for Afghanistan. Can it win the war?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Trump administration\u2019s Afghanistan strategy has a new acronym, one which the Pentagon\u2019s top officials say will lay the groundwork for a stable Afghanistan in the future.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laurel Miller, who until last June was a senior American diplomat for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the U.S. should be clearer about what it\u2019s willing to negotiate on, including when it might start pulling forces from Afghanistan. \u201cThat could set the stage for talks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such a timetable seems a remote prospect, and President Donald Trump has consistently railed against the idea of telling the enemy when the U.S. might leave. The U.S. involvement in the Afghan conflict is now in its 17th year, and 10,000 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in 2017 alone. All sides are hung up on even the format for potential negotiations. The Obama administration\u2019s peace push, which relied heavily on Afghanistan\u2019s neighbor Pakistan, floundered in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"622\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18061263114616.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-89081\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18061263114616.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18061263114616.jpg.jpg?resize=300,182 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18061263114616.jpg.jpg?resize=768,467 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 2, 2018. A large explosion in the eastern part of the Afghan capital on Friday morning killed at least one and wounding others officials said. (Massoud Hossaini\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Afghan President Ashraf Ghani\u2019s new effort, announced at an international conference in Kabul this past week, includes incentives for insurgents that join negotiations and enter the political mainstream. The government would provide passports and visas to Taliban members and their families, and work to remove sanctions against Taliban leaders, he said. The Islamist group could set up an office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alice Wells, America\u2019s top diplomat for South Asia, endorsed the overture and said the \u201conus\u201d was on the Taliban to demonstrate they\u2019re ready to talk, \u201cnot to me or the United States, but to the sovereign and legitimate government and people of Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With wounds and emotions still raw in Kabul after a wave of brutal Taliban attacks in Kabul in late January, Ghani\u2019s offer was a significant olive branch. Still, it\u2019s one unlikely to change the calculus of hard-line insurgents, said Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Barnett Rubin, a New York University expert on Afghanistan who advised the Obama administration, said: \u201cThe trouble is that the major issue the Taliban is interested in talking about is the one he has no control over \u2014 the presence of American troops in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top Afghan security officials maintain back-channel discussions with Taliban, The Associated Press has learned, but the officials\u2019 efforts are not coordinated and more formal talks are impeded by the Taliban\u2019s insistence that its \u201cIslamic Emirate,\u201d ousted in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001 for hosting al-Qaida, remains Afghanistan\u2019s legitimate government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAmerica must end her occupation and must accept all our legitimate rights including the right to form a government consistent with the beliefs of our people,\u201d the militant group said in a rambling Feb. 14 letter addressed to the American people and \u201cpeace-loving congressmen.\u201d It sought \u201cpeaceful dialogue\u201d with Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Events on the ground are moving in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/02\/07\/afghanistan-worse-than-ever-russia-holds-the-cards-in-syria-warns-former-dod-boss\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/hagel_afghanistan.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Afghanistan worse than ever, Russia \u2018holds the cards\u2019 in Syria, warns former DoD boss<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The situations in Afghanistan and Syria have deteriorated to a point where the U.S. has few options left, said former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since August, when Trump recommitted America to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/02\/01\/us-officials-push-back-against-report-on-losses-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">indefinite military presence<\/a> in the country, the U.S. has sent in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/15\/new-marines-arrive-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">thousands of additional forces<\/a> to train Afghans, bringing the total U.S. troop figure to more than 14,000. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/01\/23\/a-10-warthogs-are-back-in-afghanistan\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. has intensified airstrikes<\/a>, though there has been no significant dent on the Taliban, which control or contest nearly half the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after a Taliban suicide bomb using an ambulance that killed more than 100 people in Kabul, Trump declared on Jan. 29: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to talk with the Taliban. There may be a time, but it\u2019s going to be a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. officials have conveyed messages to Taliban political representatives in Qatar, urging the group to join talks with the Afghan government. Neighboring countries are doubtful about America\u2019s commitment to a political resolution. Pakistan, Iran and Russia are thought to maintain ties to militant proxies inside Afghanistan in case the war-ravaged country collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller, now a senior foreign policy expert at Rand Corp., said peace would require heavy lifting by the Trump administration, which has yet to appoint a top diplomat for the region. The war might need international mediation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to say the door is open, let\u2019s have a peace process,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite U.S. support, the Afghan government\u2019s surprising new peace offer to the Taliban is immediately running into a wall. The insurgents show no sign of shifting from their demand that talks for a conflict-ending compromise take place with Washington, not Kabul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":89080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[259],"class_list":["post-52759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6L2FTMPZLNCDLBWYD3DUKSHAQM","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/04\/us-afghan-leaders-agree-on-peace-push-taliban-dont\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US, Afghan leaders agree on peace push, Taliban don&#039;t - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite U.S. support, the Afghan government\u2019s surprising new peace offer to the Taliban is immediately running into a wall. 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