U.S. And The Taliban May Be Near A Deal. What Does That Mean For Afghanistan?

Nearly two decades into the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. suddenly appears to be nearing an agreement with the Taliban that could bring the remaining 14,000 U.S. troops home.

That's causing unease inside the Afghan government, which has been left on the sidelines as the U.S. and the Taliban have held multiple rounds of talks this year in the Gulf nation of Qatar. The latest round wrapped up last week without a deal, but with signs of progress.

The Afghan government says it's prepared to negotiate with the Taliban — but the Taliban are refusing to reciprocate, calling the Afghan government an American puppet.

Roya Rahmani, Afghanistan's ambassador to the U.S., said that while she supports efforts toward peace, "peace negotiations would start when the Taliban are able and ready to face the Afghan people, the people they are fighting, and their legitimate elected government."

The Taliban seized power in her homeland in the 1990s, when she was a teenager. She spent most of those years as a refugee in Pakistan, but in visits home during that time, she says she "found my country drained of energy and worse than that, drained of hope."