Afghanistan: Are we in the endgame now? A recently leaked letter has laid bare US frustrations with Kabul’s foot-dragging over the Afghan peace process KARACHI: Last week, a letter from the new US administration to the Afghan president generated a lot of media buzz. This was more so because the letter was confidential and was leaked to an Afghan TV news channel – perhaps by someone in the presidential palace. The letter may not have taken Kabul by surprise, but the ‘not-so-veiled threat’ it contained did. Afghanistan’s governing elite were miffed and they didn’t hide it. The letter surfaced shortly after a flurry of whirlwind visits by Ambassador ZalmeyKhalilzad, the US peace emissary for Afghanistan, to Doha, Kabul, and Islamabad. Khalilzad’s Doha meeting cleared fears and misgivings swirling around the media about Biden’s possible course of action in Afghanistan. A guessing game has been ongoing since Biden ordered a ‘review’ of the peace deal signed by his predecessor with the Taliban. The new developments indicate Biden doesn’t want to upset the apple cart. He appears inclined to take up the Doha process where it was left off by the Donald Trump administration with a few tweaks here and there.