*KABUL – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has sent a letter to the U.S.President Trump offering him reduced costs for keeping American troops inthe country, The New York Times reported Wednesday.*
The letter, confirmed by three officials and described by one who had seenits contents, is among the strongest signs yet that Ghani is worried aboutthe consequences of an abrupt American withdrawal from an intractable warthat has lasted nearly two decades, Ariana News has reported.
Ghani has made no secret of his concern about a hasty American exit by anincreasingly impatient Trump, fearing it could unravel the fragile Afghanstate and lead to a renaissance in power by the Taliban, which have beensteadily gaining territory.
The Afghan leader wrote the letter to Trump just a few days after the mostserious negotiations between American diplomats and Taliban representativesended on what both sides considered an upbeat note in Qatar, 1,200 milesaway.
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The chief American diplomat, Zalmay Khalilzad, told The New York Timesthere had been an agreement on a “framework” for two key issues — that theTaliban would prevent the use of Afghan territory by terror groups like AlQaeda against the United States, and that the Americans would agree towithdrawing their forces.
Frustrated Afghan officials, who played no role in the negotiations, saidthey nonetheless saw a confirmation of what many have feared over the pastyear or so — that the Trump administration, despite having signaled along-term commitment, cares little for what an American withdrawal couldmean for Afghanistan’s 35 million people.
