Lost cause? Afghanistan's future never looked more uncertain, thanks to US

The problem isn't that the US seeks to end its 17-year war in Afghanistan. The problem is that it seeks to end the fighting purely on its own terms

Afghanistan’s future has never looked more uncertain — and, as so tediously often in the past, it is largely the fault of the US In a hotel room in Moscow, representatives of the Taliban are meeting members of the Afghan opposition, in negotiations deliberately designed to exclude members of the government in Kabul led by President Ashraf Ghani. In the 38-member Afghan delegation are not just mercurial former president Hamid Karzai but also Mohammad Hanif Atmar, who will challenge Ghani for power in presidential elections in July.

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who held talks of his own with the Taliban