The United States is closer than ever before to withdrawing from Afghanistan and putting this 18-year, $841 billion misadventure behind us.

The framework of a potential deal has been well-known for quite some time: In exchange for the removal of American and other foreign troops, the Taliban would ensure Afghanistan doesn’t represent a terrorist threat to the American people. Taliban leaders would also sit down with other Afghan stakeholders for comprehensive talks on the political future of the country and agree to a cease-fire (or at least a significant reduction in violence). The details have been the subject of intensive negotiations for weeks.