Afghan Officials Spurn US Call for Peace Compromises

VP rejects US 'illegitimate demands'

US offers to get more deeply involved in the intra-Afghan peace process are being loudly rejected by Afghan officials, with officials lining up to condemn the US proposals as violating the Afghan constitution and threatening the Afghan right to vote.

Vice President Amrullah Saleh insisted nothing would change after the US statement, saying the government has no intention of allowing an interim government to be formed, something President Ghani also announced the previous night.

At its core is the US proposal of an interim Afghan government with the Taliban, and free elections. The Ghani government has time and again ruled out such power-sharing, and positioned it as an anti-democracy measure.

Other officials accused the US of trying to undermine President Ghani with the proposal, and saw significance in the US sending the proposal not just to Ghani, but to his long-time rival, and chief negotiator, Abdullah Abdullah.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.