According to a report by the NYTimes, President Obama is considering a faster withdrawal plan of all American troops from Afghanistan. The report says that following a tense conversation between Presidents Obama and Karzai in a videoconference on June 26, the White House is increasingly considering the ‘zero option’ as an alternative, withdrawing all troops after 2014.

Though President Karzai has been causing ups and down in relations with the US with his inconsistency and lack of a clear policy, the spat on Taliban’s political office in Qatar was a final blow. He suspended talks on the bilateral security agreement about the number and conditions for the US troops to remain beyond 2014. Once considered the worst-case scenario, now Washington is serious about full withdrawal of all troops—a sure recipe of disaster and our downward spiral and with eventual chaos and crisis that can lead to civil war.

Taliban have also temporarily closed their office in Doha, reacting on the objection of the Karzai Administration about their use of symbols and flag from the former Taliban rule. After these objections, the flag of the ‘Islamic Emirate’ was removed and their office nametag removed. Taliban say the objections are “absurd as everything about the office had been agreed upon during months-long discussions with all sides involved”.

While the Karzai Administration made a huge fuss out of it, the parliament and public at large has been kept in dark about the entire process. The engineered Jirga resolution has been the only excuse for a solo drive on a one-way street.

The worsening ties with the US could actually cause their full withdrawal, surely followed by chaos, for which, President Karzai will have the sole responsibility. The opposition political parties have called on the Government to resolve the differences and normalize relations otherwise all out responsibility of crisis would go on President Karzai.

Full American withdrawal will mean instability and chaos. It will not very long for the Government to collapse and National Security Forces to scatter along factional and ethnic lines. Who will meet their financial needs?

Actually all of the crisis mongering is part of a well-thought scheme to create a situation of crisis and possibly impose the state of emergency, after which the President can stick to power for few more years and we will not see any elections. UN officials have reportedly said polling will most likely not be possible until the summer. The international community must not let this happen, otherwise they will be on the losing end of history.