This archive report was first published on 9 September 2019.
On September 9, 2019, the United States government's decision to call off peace talks with the Taliban left Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani in the dark about the country's future.
According to his aides, Mr. Ghani was not briefed on the details of the talks, and American officials refused to leave him a copy of the draft agreement governing the fate of his country.
Despite his efforts to engage with the Taliban, Mr. Ghani has questioned whether the group would negotiate an acceptable accord with any elected government, even if the US announced a peace deal.
His concerns were further exacerbated by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's response to a question about the number of American troops in Afghanistan, which he declined to answer, citing the President's decision.
As the US plans to reduce its forces from 14,000 to 8,600, military and intelligence officials have emphasized that the remaining troops will provide intelligence to the Afghans, who are shouldering most of the fighting.
Experts believe that US President Donald Trump's decision to rush the diplomatic process may be driven by his desire to fulfill a 2016 campaign promise to bring American troops home from the country's longest war.
