On Wednesday, the Taliban announced they were closing in on a deal with the United States under which U.S. troops would finally withdraw from Afghanistan after nearly 18 years of fighting. One security official put the withdrawal timeline at 14 to 24 months, but the chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford said it is still too premature to talk about withdrawing U.S. troops.

Gen. Joseph Dunford: “I think it’s premature. I’m not using the 'withdraw' word right now. I’m using — we’re going to make sure that Afghanistan is not a sanctuary, and we’re going to try to have an effort to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.”