Doha talks between US and Taliban negotiators are continuing forward on
Sunday, with the most recent reports suggesting that the two sides are
trying to organize a direct meeting between their top negotiators, Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Baradar.
Both sides were very clear that this round of talks might effectively be
the last, and end with the announcement of a deal Khalilzad emphasized
in his comments that the US wants a “peace deal,” not merely a
“withdrawal agreement.”
Yet it’s undeniable that those two are interchangeable. The Taliban are
insisting on foreign troops leave, the US wants the Taliban to keep ISIS
and al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and those deals are the general
framework of a peace deal that would also include a ceasefire and talks
on power-sharing with the Ghani government.
Taliban officials confirmed this is going to be what they’re shooting
for, saying they want to set a timeline for foreign troops to leave
Afghanistan during which they’d negotiate with the government.
the US wants the Taliban to keep ISIS and al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan
Not sure about this. I think ISIS and AQ are the US’ second priority, at least. I believe this is the main objective:
‘(R)epresentatives from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India (and the US) gathered in Herat to mark the start of work on the Afghan portion of the TAPI pipeline.
[…]
The TAPI project, which has an estimated price tag now of $10 billion, endeavors to bring 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to energy-starved South Asia for 30 years via a 1,800-kilometer pipeline that will stretch across Afghanistan. Construction is estimated to last two years.
[…]
Security is generally cited by observers as the biggest concern, although the Taliban has pledged, repeatedly now, to support and protect the project.”
– https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/tapi-moves-into-afghanistan-taliban-promise-to-protect-the-project/
The US wants that oil to be sold to India in USD (versus Euros on a competing Iranian bourse), the Afghan government wants millions in annual transit fees and the Taliban wants a seat at the table in Kabul and some of those fees.