Afghanistan's President Puts Peace on the Table

After nearly 17 years of fighting, it is clear that the war in Afghanistan has no military solution at a price either the country or its partners is willing to pay. So President Ashraf Ghani is right to have made a far-reaching peace offer to the Taliban.

That said, if this latest effort is to avoid the sorry fate of its predecessors, Ghani has work to do. The main task for him and Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive in Afghanistan's shaky unity government, is to bolster the legitimacy of Afghan democracy by setting a firm (and realistic) date for long-delayed parliamentary and local council elections. Afghanistan's partners can support this move by pushing (and helping to pay for) fixes to the country's voter registry, which is also essential for next year's presidential elections.