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               Washington Considers No Troops Left in Afghanistan

   A report in a leading U.S. newspaper says the United States is
   considering an option for withdrawal from Afghanistan next year that
   would leave no American troops in the South Asian nation.
   The New York Times, in a report published on its website Monday, cites
   unnamed American and European officials who say U.S. President Barack
   Obama has become "increasingly frustrated" with his negotiations with
   Afghan President Hamid Karzai, resulting in the U.S. leader giving
   "serious consideration" to the zero option.
   The newspaper says the relationship between the two leaders has been
   "slowly unraveling," reaching a new low with last month`s U.S. move to
   open peace talks with the Taliban.
   The report says a June 27 videoconference designed to defuse the
   tensions between the two presidents "ended badly." The Times reports
   Mr. Karzai accused the U.S. of trying to forge a separate peace with
   the Taliban and its Pakistani supporters in an arrangement that he said
   would expose Afghanistan`s government to its enemies.
   The newspaper says since the videoconference the option of leaving no
   troops behind has gone from being considered the worst-case scenario to
   "an alternative under serious consideration in Washington and Kabul."
   The New York Times reports that officials have cautioned that no
   decisions have been made on the pace of the pullout and exactly how
   many American troops to leave behind in Afghanistan. They say a
   long-term security deal is the goal of the negotiations, but the
   "hardening of negotiating stance on both sides" could result in a full
   military pullout like the one in Iraq.
   A senior Western official in Kabul told The Times the zero-option is
   "now being seen as a realistic path."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/washington-considers-no-troops-left-i
   n-afghanistan/1697801.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/washington-considers-no-troops-left-in-afghanistan/1697801.html