Obama and Afghanistan: the zero option

The US threat to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014—the so called 'zero option'—is most probably a pressure tactic in the increasingly difficult negotiations with President Hamid Karzai on the terms of future security cooperation between Washington and Kabul.

But 'bargaining chips' often turn into real negotiating positions when mutual trust between two sides begins to rapidly disappear. As the ground situation becomes murky in Afghanistan, the Taliban gains ground with the support of the Pakistan army, and the American public support for the war in Afghanistan evaporates, it is certainly possible that Washington and Kabul might part ways and not so amicably.It is no secret that Karzai and the US President Barack Obama have not been able to build much mutual trust since the latter took charge of the White House in January 2009.