The Almost-Peace Deal

<p>After years of false starts, the United States has signed a landmark deal with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan. We traveled to the front lines of the war — and to the signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar — to investigate whether peace is actually possible.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/mujib-mashal?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">Mujib Mashal</a>, senior correspondent for The New York Times in Afghanistan.</p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/world/asia/us-taliban-afghanistan.html?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank"> agreement between Washington and the Taliban</a> seemed to be an important first step in ending the war in Afghanistan.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-violence.html?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank"> Then the violence started again</a>.</li><li>Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born American envoy and architect of the deal, seemed to have been handed an impossible and thankless assignment. Here’s<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/world/asia/zalmay-khalilzad-afghanistan-taliban.html?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank"> how he pulled it off</a>.</li></ul>