Washington, June 07: US special envoy to Afghanistan says the Afghan war will not end in a clear-cut military victory, as Washington faces a rising casualty count among US-led troops.
Richard Holbrooke told Reuters on Sunday that Washington understands that a final “political settlement” in Afghanistan will ultimately end the war.
“Everybody understands that this war … is not going to end on the deck of a battleship like World War II, or … like the Bosnian war,” the top diplomat said during an international conference in Madrid over non-military ways to help end the Afghan conflict.
Holbrooke also said that the political solution could involve the participation of the so-called reformed Taliban members in the Afghan government.
He stressed, however, that the US will not accept a settlement with al-Qaeda.
This is while the Taliban has so far refused to participate in any form of negotiations until all foreign forces are out of the country.
Last week Afghan President Hamid Karzai hosted a Peace Jirga in Kabul in a bid to end the nine-year-long war.
The three-day gathering ended with a mandate, which called on the Afghan government to open talks with the militants.
——-Agencies