“Certainly they have their people within the United States, they’d rather deal with the United States than the government in Kabul,” Duff told Press TV on Tuesday. “They trust the United States considerably more than they trust Karzai and they look at the United States as a potential investment partner,” he added.

“Taliban representatives are very concerned about Karzai cozying up to the Chinese who will be moving into Taliban areas and seizing resources.”

Reports suggest that the Afghan National Army has ceded control of three checkpoints in Helmand province to the Taliban in return for an end to their attacks.
“The idea of giving the Taliban a region of their own … is a poor government practice,” Duff said. The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 12 years, the Taliban is resurging in the war-torn country.
The government of President Hamid Karzai has not yet signed a controversial security pact with the United States which would determine the presence of US soldiers in Afghanistan beyond the planned 2014 withdrawal.
The pact would also grant legal immunity to those American soldiers who remain in Afghanistan – something that has turned into a sticking point.
On December 14 however, the Afghan president said he no longer trusts the United States, accusing the US administration of saying one thing and doing another.
He added he would not be “intimidated” into signing the deal. Washington says if Karzai does not sign the deal before the end of the year, the US-led forces will leave Afghanistan completely.