Ahmed Rashid

End game

Western withdrawal need not mean civil war in Afghanistan. But America must talk to the Taleban

issue 18 August 2012

Britain has been at war in Afghanistan for over a decade. Many Britons now take it for granted that its country’s intervention in Afghanistan has failed and when Nato troops pull out in 2014 they will leave behind a volatile and unsettled state that could easily plunge into a civil war — much worse than what western forces inherited back in 2001.

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