The Taliban has a saying: “America has the watches; we have the time.” Donald Trump’s alarm is set for November 3, which is when he hopes to be re-elected. In between, he wants to redeem his vow to pull US troops from Afghanistan without triggering a Taliban takeover.
The Taliban, on the other hand, has most of the leverage as well as all the time. Like a property dealer squeezing evermore humiliating terms, it knows Mr Trump will not walk away. He is committed to cutting and running.
In Mr Trump’s defence, nobody has a better plan. In 2009, Joe Biden, the then vice-president and now Mr Trump’s likely opponent, failed to convince Barack Obama to strike a similar deal to the one Mr Trump signed last week.
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