Monitoring Desk: The Report Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy: In Brief released by Congressional Research Service (CRS) indicates that the Taliban have not specified in detail their vision for Afghanistan’s future beyond creating an “Islamic government” and what kind of this government would be is only known by Taliban leadership.
The report further indicates that the United States appears to have intensified its efforts to broker an intra-Afghan agreement. The United States reportedly produced a draft peace agreement to “jumpstart” negotiations that includes a variety of options, including the establishment of an interim “transitional” government but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has rejected the idea.
“Afghan officials have sought to downplay the impact of the U.S. military withdrawal on their own forces’ capabilities, but some official U.S. assessments indicate that the withdrawal could lead to Taliban gains on the battlefield. By many measures, the Taliban are in a stronger position now than at any point since 2001, controlling as much as half of the country,” the report claimed.
It may be mentioned that CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress and information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
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