ZERO OPTION

U.S. Considers Full Afghan Withdrawal

Obama is frustrated with Karzai.

The U.S. is considering withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan after next year, American and European officials said on Tuesday. The “zero option” comes as President Obama has reportedly become increasingly frustrated with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who accused the U.S. last month of trying to negotiate a separate peace with the Taliban and its backers in Pakistan. The U.S. has given a 2014 deadline to drastically scale down troops in Afghanistan and leave just security forces in that country, but the idea of full withdrawal similar to what was done in Iraq has been gaining momentum. “If you listen to some people in Washington, it is maybe now being seen as a realistic path,” one senior Western official in Kabul told The New York Times.