American exit.

INDEED, the American counterterrorism and nation-building project in Afghanistan - much like the Soviet and British imperial forays in the past - has been an unmitigated disaster. While the US invaded Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 ostensibly to hunt down Al Qaeda and punish the Afghan Taliban that sheltered the transnational terrorist conglomerate, today, nearly two decades on, while Al Qaeda may be scattered, the Taliban are very much in the ascendant. And while Washington has lost over 2,400 personnel and spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the effort, there is not much to show for it as the Afghan government and military are widely seen as incapable of running and securing the country once their Western sponsors depart. In such circumstances, and considering it is an election year in America, President Donald Trump's haste to 'bring the boys back home' can be understood. But as a trilateral communique jointly issued by Pakistan, Afghanistan and China on Tuesday warned, America's rush to get up and leave before an intra-Afghan peace agreement is in place can pave the way for the resurgence of terrorist groups.

The broad consensus is that if the US and other Western forces leave without an agreement between Afghan stakeholders, the chaos that ensued after the Soviet withdrawal may be repeated. That is why the three sides 'urged for an orderly, responsible and condition-based withdrawal of the foreign troops from Afghanistan. ...' While the Afghan government would have a tough time maintaining peace in a post-withdrawal scenario, Pakistan...

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