You lose, again. Seriously, who TF are you to chal

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Mr. Ghani’s government has found itself in an unenviable position, with his officials feeling that the United States has lent legitimacy to the Taliban with a rushed peace process that has deeply undermined the Afghan government.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/09/world/asia...talks.html

American diplomats, driven by President Trump’s urgency to get out of Afghanistan, were clamoring for a deal to avoid the threat of Mr. Trump’s pulling out without one .

They agreed to the withdrawal of the remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan over 14 months and the release of the 5,000 prisoners in talks that had excluded the Afghan government.

The February agreement called for the release of the Taliban prisoners within 10 days. Mr. Ghani has used his control over the fate of the inmates as a way of showing the Taliban that his government will not be pushed around.

But the delay in getting to the negotiating table has raised concerns that the Americans will complete their withdrawal before the two Afghan adversaries come to an agreement over a future system of governance and power-sharing.

On Saturday, Mark Esper, the U.S. defense secretary, said that the number of American troops in Afghanistan would be reduced to below 5,000 before the end of November, down from a little over 12,000 at the time of the agreement’s signing in February.

The Afghan government’s gathering of more than 3,000 people under one tent was criticized by health experts who feared that the breach of coronavirus restrictions would fuel the pandemic’s spread.

Just before the assembly, at least 17 representatives tested positive and were taken to hospitals, the Health Ministry said. Khushal Nabizada, the director of public health for Kabul, said the results of the delegates’ tests had come in before the first meeting, and that the delegates had been sequestered away from the assembly.

Although Afghan officials said all delegates were tested before being allowed to participate, many of the delegates said they were never tested. Some of the 17 who tested positive may have also mingled among other delegates during a check-in process.

“There are 70 people in our committee,” said Masuma Bahar, a delegate. “I asked two women next to me and both said they hadn’t been tested.”

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